A Tale Of Two Apprentices
by RySenkari
Summary: [Follows Life and Times of Red X and Maiden of Stone] Terra is back on the team, and Red X is back doing what he does best. But the city is under siege from the Brotherhood of Evil, and in addition to that, Slade still wants Red X to be his apprentice.
1. Battle On The Big Bridge

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

It was evening in Jump City. The moon was shining high in the sky, and the light breeze blowing through the air made this particular night a very pleasant one indeed.

At least, it was pleasant until...

"Ahahaha, Titans, you'll never bring me down!" The sounds of city bustle were being drowned out by the roar of a powerful motorcycle engine as Johnny Rancid sped down the city's main thoroughfare, twirling a long chain in his right hand. "Say goodbye, Teen Losers!"

Rancid sped past Beast Boy, snapping his chain across the young changeling's chest. The impact of the chain was painful, and it brought Beast Boy down immediately, causing him to let out a loud scream as he slammed into the pavement on his back.

"Beast Boy!!!"

As soon as Beast Boy had gone down, Terra flew over his head, riding on a small chunk of pavement about six feet above the ground. She let out a loud cry and clenched her fists, her eyes taking on a bright, golden glow as several small pieces of the street below her lifted up and flew off in Rancid's direction.

"I think you're a bit over your head, little girl," said Rancid, smiling as he did a hard right turn on his motorcycle, dodging the rocks that the geomancer had sent his way. He sped forward, charging right at the other four Titans: Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven, who had to break up their battle formation to dodge the reckless roadster.

"It's not gonna be _that _easy!" shouted Cyborg, firing several blasts from his plasma cannon. The blasts missed every time, as Rancid's motorcycle proved just a little bit too fast for Cyborg to shoot. _"Geez, he must've had a serious upgrade since the last time we fought him!"_

Her earlier attack having failed, Terra lifted up another, larger piece of the pavement and tossed it Rancid's way, while Raven, standing nearby, decided to throw something a bit bigger.

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!" screamed Raven, taking telekinetic control of a nearby lamppost and throwing it toward Rancid's front wheel, in an attempt to make him have a nasty wipeout. Instead, Rancid did a quick wheelie, positioning his back wheel just right, and doing a flying leap into the air, propelled by the side of the lamppost.

"AWESOME!" shouted Rancid, flying nearly twenty feet before landing well past the teenage crime fighters, his momentum carrying him quickly down the street. "See ya later, losers! Hahahahaha!!!"

"Don't let him get away!" ordered Robin, mounting his T-Cycle and peeling off in hot pursuit. Just as he got up to speed, Starfire zoomed past him, her eyes brightly aglow.

"Do not worry, I will pursue him on my own!" said Starfire, quickly catching up to the speeding Johnny Rancid's motorcycle and launching Starbolt after Starbolt at his back wheel.

Further down the road, while Robin and Raven both took off after Rancid, Terra was tending to Beast Boy, who was still stinging from the hit he took earlier. He lifted up his shirt and saw an ugly, chain-link shaped bruise on his head from where Rancid's primary weapon had impacted him.

"Ugh..." said Beast Boy to himself, looking down at his bruise. _"I'll be feeling that one tomorrow..."_

"You okay?"

Terra's soft, concerned voice, coming from just a foot or two away, startled Beast Boy, especially since he still had his shirt pulled most of the way up. He immediately yanked it down, a bright blush forming on his green face.

"Y...yeah, I'm fine..." said Beast Boy, blinking his eyes and trying to put on his best innocent smile. "I... I just-"

"Need a hand?" Terra asked, after a short giggle. She reached down and extended her hand to Beast Boy, who eagerly reached up and used it to get to his feet.

"Thanks..."

In the three weeks since Terra had been revived, Beast Boy had never been happier. Even though he still had serious issues trying to sort out his affections for both Terra and Raven, he was still glad to have the beautiful blonde geomancer back on the team... and glad to see that she was getting happier and more confident with every passing day.

"Hey, c'mon, you guys..." came Cyborg's voice from nearby, just as Terra was helping Beast Boy get up from the sidewalk. "The others have already gone after Rancid, we gotta go help 'em out!"

With a nod, both Terra and Beast Boy walked over to Cyborg. Knowing that Cyborg couldn't fly, Terra levitated a rock underneath herself and her mechanical comrade, leaving Beast Boy to his own devices.

"C'mon, Beast Boy, let's go kick that guy's butt!" said Terra, shooting him an encouraging smile. The changeling nodded, and in less than a second, had transformed into a cheetah.

Nearly a thousand feet away, the chase had intensified, with Rancid being forced to weave in and out of traffic in order to dodge the onslaught of Starbolts and energy blasts by Starfire and Raven, while Robin had nearly caught up to Rancid in his T-Cycle.

"We need to stop him before he gets to the bridge!" shouted Robin up at his two female companions, not wanting a repeat of what had happened the last time he'd chased Rancid onto a bridge... _"I don't want to break my arm again, and I _certainly _don't want to have to deal with Larry again..."_

But Rancid had heard Robin, and he sped up as much as he could, seeing the bridge, and potentially freedom, just a few thousand feet away.

"If Robin does not want you reaching the bridge, then you will NOT reach the bridge!" shouted Starfire, speeding up herself and flying side-by-side next to Rancid's bike. Her eyes lit up, and she prepared to fire her ocular lasers straight at Rancid's chest. He gave her a sly smile, and then thrust his chain outward, causing it to wrap around her neck. The chain immediately tightened, and Starfire let out a scream and a gasp, feeling all of the air go out of her lungs. Her eyes returned to their normal appearance, and she fell hard onto the pavement, immediately bouncing back up and then hitting it again at over a hundred miles per hour, the chain holding her in Rancid's grasp like a leash.

"STARFIRE!!!" screamed Robin, watching helplessly as Starfire slammed into the pavement over and over like a ragdoll, held tightly by Rancid's chain. He zipped forward in his T-Cycle, passing through a narrow gap between two cars in order to put his endangered friend between Rancid's bike and his own. Starfire looked up at him with a terrified expression, her eyes wide and desperate as she hit the pavement over and over, the chain constricting even tighter around her neck. She mouthed a silent 'Robin!' to him, reaching a hand upward to him and trying desperately to grab onto his arm.

"_I can't let this continue," _thought Raven, swooping along to the other side of Rancid's bike and attempting to hit him with a midair kick, which he blocked with the side of his arm, nearly losing control of his bike in the process. When another kick of hers was blocked, her hands lit up, and she attempted to fire a blast to knock Rancid off of his bike. For her effort, she received a punch to the chest that sent her flying backward, knocking her through the air.

"It's my crayon!" shouted a five-year-old boy in the back seat of a nearby car, attempting to tug a green crayon away from his seven-year-old sister.

"No, it's MY crayon!" screamed the girl, so caught up in her tug-of-war that she didn't see the blue-cloaked Teen Titan on a collision course with the window across from her. Suddenly, the glass window shattered, and Raven flew into the car, landing in the laps of the two arguing kids, whose quarrel stopped immediately, along with the car they were driving in. They, and their parents, sat silently for a couple of seconds, blinking their eyes. Finally, the silence was broken. "It's MY Raven!"

"No, it's MY Raven!" shouted the five-year old, pulling on Raven's ankles while his sister tugged hard on her cloak. Raven simply rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

Back outside, Rancid was getting closer and closer to the bridge, and Robin was having no luck getting Starfire free from the chain around her neck. He had one final option... he pulled out one of his Bird-a-rangs and started desperately hacking at the chain, trying to break it and set Starfire free. Starfire, however, knew that though she may soon pass out, she still had to try and stop Rancid before he reached the bridge and intensified the danger of the pursuit even more. She wrapped her arms around a section of chain and began tugging as hard as she could, in an attempt to pull the speeding biker out of his seat. At first, the tugs were nothing more than a minor annoyance... but as Starfire's determination and anger grew, her eyes lit up again, and Rancid began noticing that Starfire was fighting back.

"Hey, stop that!" shouted Rancid, swerving to the left and heading for the side of the bridge, while at the same time attempting to pull Starfire into the path of an oncoming car. She threw her body just to the side of the car, causing it to skim past her and miss her by less than a foot. Robin, however, had had to swerve his own T-Cycle to the left to avoid hitting the car, and was now having to dodge oncoming traffic, leaving Starfire on her own. "Looks like your boyfriend's left you high and dry, babe!"

"Robin would _never _abandon me!" Starfire half-gasped, "but on this occasion, I will take you down on my own!"

The Tamaranian's fingers gripped tightly around the chain, and with one powerful tug, Rancid found himself flying through the air, his now-riderless motorcycle racing down the bridge without him on top of it. He began to scream as he flew wildly through the air, passing between two of the cables of the bridge and plummeting straight down, toward the water.

About halfway down, his fall came to a sudden stop, as a Birdcable looped tightly around his stomach. Much to his relief, Rancid found himself being pulled up, but, of course, when he reached the bridge, he saw two very angry Titans staring at him.

"Needless to say, you're under arrest," said Robin, tightening the cable around Rancid's arms, pinning them to his sides. Next to Robin was Starfire, pulling Rancid's chain off of her neck and letting out a loud gasp before rubbing the bruised skin near her throat. Robin heard Starfire's gasp and immediately turned to face her, a look of concern in his eyes. "Starfire, are you okay?"

"Yes," said the now-smiling Tamaranian, her voice still a bit raspy. She gave a couple of weak coughs before resuming her normal expression. "I am quite undamaged."

A few seconds later, Raven walked over to the duo, her hood down, revealing a face covered in green crayon.

"Don't ask," said Raven, silencing them before they could speak.

O-O-O

A few minutes later, the police had arrived to take Rancid to jail. By now, Beast Boy, Terra, and Cyborg had joined their friends on the bridge... happy that Rancid had been caught, but disappointed that they had been too late to re-join the battle.

"It's okay, you guys," said Robin, comforting his three friends as the six Titans stood near the side of the bridge, watching the cars go by from their position at the bridge's halfway point. "I'm sure you'll be able to take out the next one."

"Yeah, but I still wanted to make Rancid pay for knocking me down," said Beast Boy, an eager smile on his face as he threw a few practice punches in the air. "Give 'im the old one-two... yeah, yeah!"

Standing next to Beast Boy, Terra let out another giggle, putting her hand to her lips and shooting Beast Boy an amused look.

"I thought your specialty was turning into animals, Beast Boy... I didn't know you were taking boxing lessons..." Terra commented.

"Well, I guess I could be a boxing kangaroo..."

Beast Boy then repeated his punchy performance, only this time, as a tall, green marsupial, causing Terra to laugh even harder. By now, Raven had seen enough.

"Okay, we took care of Rancid, so let's go back to the Tower and-"

The sound of hundreds of screams immediately drew the Titans' attention to the center of the bridge, where a long, outstretched arm, clad in red, was sweeping dozens of cars off the side of the bridge, sending both they and their inhabitants plunging into the water below. The Titans could only watch in horror, and all of them focused their gaze on a woman with short black hair, standing about thirty feet away, a sadistic smile on her face as she watched dozens of families fall to a watery grave.

"I know my mission is to seek out and destroy the Teen Titans," said the woman to herself in a thick Russian accent, not yet noticing her targets standing just a short distance away, "and what better way to lure them out than by attacking the innocent residents of their pathetic city?"

"Lady, you just made a HUGE mistake," said Robin, his eyes narrowed in rage. Immediately, he began giving orders to the rest of his team. "Starfire, Raven, go down there and save as many people as you can! The rest of us..."

"Have one REALLY stretchy butt to kick," continued Terra, watching in bewilderment as the woman's arm retracted back toward her body, until it returned to its normal length.

As Starfire and Raven separated from the group, and the other Titans prepared for battle, Beast Boy's eyes were as wide as saucers, and his jaw had dropped several inches.

"...Madame Rouge...?!" said Beast Boy quietly, drawing an amused look from the woman in red.

"Ah, it's you... the Doom Patrol's littlest member. I see you've associated yourself with a different group of failures."

"Beast Boy... do you know this woman?" said Cyborg, looking down at his changeling friend.

"Yeah," said Beast Boy, his voice serious and solemn. "She's Madame Rouge... she's one of the most dangerous criminals in the world."

"Ah, I am glad you remembered me," said Rouge, her lips curving into a smile. "But that doesn't mean that I won't tear all of you apart..."

In less than a second, Rouge's arms had stretched forward, spanning the gap between Beast Boy and herself in order to punch the changeling in the chest and send him flying toward the side of the bridge. Terra reached her hand out quickly, grabbing one of Beast Boy's hands just in time and stopping him from going over. While this was going on, Robin ran forward at Rouge, extending his bo staff and swinging at her head several times.

"You will have to try harder than _that_," said Rouge, using her flexibility to swing her head back and to the side, avoiding each and every one of Robin's blows before smashing her leg into his stomach, knocking him to the ground. Several blasts from Cyborg's cannon slammed into her before she could attack Robin again, and she quickly diverted her attention, letting out a cry of pain as one of Cyborg's blasts tore right through her chest, creating a large hole.

"BOOYAH!" shouted Cyborg, pumping his fists in jubilation. However, Madame Rouge was far from defeated, and the hole in her chest healed itself just a second later. She then lifted one of her legs, stretching it out and slamming it into the side of Cyborg's head, knocking him to the ground.

As soon as Rouge had dealt with Cyborg, she saw Beast Boy and Terra coming at her from the left, Beast Boy having transformed into a large ostrich. Rouge stretched both of her arms toward them, just as Terra slammed her fist toward the ground, causing a large fissure to form in the pavement. When the fissure neared Rouge's feet, several large chunks of concrete burst upward from it, but Rouge simply bent her whole body to the left, causing the concrete to sail past her. She continued stretching her arms, her left arm wrapping tightly around Terra. Beast Boy avoided a similar fate by leaping into the air, aiming both of his ostrich feet straight at Rouge's face. She let out a scream as she was kicked, flying backward and immediately losing her grip on Terra before skidding on the ground about ten feet and landing on her back some distance away. By the time she could stand again, the four Titans she was fighting had regrouped, standing just a few feet away from her and taking up battle stances.

"You may be one of the most dangerous criminals in the world, but you're about to go down, just like every other criminal we've faced," said Robin, holding out his bo staff and looking Rouge right in the eyes. Once again, a smile crossed Rouge's lips, and it seemed as if she wasn't intimidated at all by the Titans' display of force.

"Believe me, I am _nothing _like the other criminals you have faced... you will soon learn that fact all too well."

O-O-O

A mile away from the bridge, the Centech Institute of Technology, a one-story office building about the size of half a football field, was being paid a late-night visit by none other than Jump City's most infamous thief...

"This was almost too easy," said Red X, standing in front of a display case which held a thin white floppy disc. The disc contained code for a new type of software program... a program that could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars if the right bidder was found. "Not a bad haul for five minutes of work..."

The masked thief pressed his gloved hand to the case, placing an X on the glass that dissolved it almost immediately, allowing him to reach in and take the disc without having to make a sound. As soon as he withdrew the disc, the X disappeared and the glass reformed... it was like he'd never been there.

"Now to get out of here before those Titans show up... _especially Terra..._"

But before X could turn around, he heard a loud, booming voice from the front of the building...

"Hey you!"

Thinking that it was just a security guard, X didn't even bother taking his time. He turned away from the case, his hands held high in the air in a mock gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay, you got me... but don't expect to hold onto me very-"

When X saw who had really called out to him, his eyes widened, and he nearly dropped the disc. There, blocking his exit from the building, were four costumed heroes, but not the Teen Titans X was so familiar to seeing. All of them were dressed in purple, and, while two of them, a male and a female, appeared human, the group appeared to have a mummy and a robot amongst their ranks... at least that's what they appeared to be from Red X's viewpoint.

"We didn't come here to stop you, but when we saw you break in, we knew we couldn't just let you get away," said the woman of the group, her hands on her hips. "Now you can come quietly, or..."

"Okay, first off... tell me who you guys are," said Red X, not letting even the least bit of nervousness show in his voice, though he wasn't entirely sure about fighting what appeared to be four adult superheroes.

"We're the Doom Patrol," said the human male, clearly the leader of the group. "That's all you need to know."

"The Doom Patrol?" replied Red X, in a slightly skeptical tone. "Well, the Patrol sounds heroic, but I'm not sure about that Doom part... are you sure _you're _not the bad guys?"

"I've heard enough talk," said Mento, placing his hands against his forehead. "Doom Patrol, attack!"

And Mento was first to strike, firing a concentrated blast of mind energy straight at Red X's forehead. As soon as X was hit, he went down to one knee, dropping the disc and placing his hands on his head.

"_Damn...!!!" _thought Red X, gritting his teeth beneath his mask as Mento continued his mental assault. _"It feels like... like my head is being ripped apart!"_

Mento, who could hear every one of Red X's thoughts, smiled as he realized his attack was working.

"He doesn't like my mind waves at all," said Mento. "This is going to be an easy one."

As the Doom Patrol split up and began coming at X from all directions, the thief realized that if he didn't make a quick counterattack, he'd be easy pickings.

"_Gotta... fight back somehow..." _thought Red X, seeing Robotman, the biggest member of the group, coming at him out of the corner of his eye. _"That big guy looks like he could use a charge..."_

Still fighting off a pounding pain in his forehead, X somersaulted into the air, getting behind Robotman and slapping down an electrically-charged X right onto the center of his back. As the X began sending waves of electricity through Robotman's body, the mighty robot let out a scream and fell to his knees, his circuits rapidly shorting out. 

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him!" shouted Elasti-Girl, now charging at both X and Robotman, her legs carrying her quickly toward her target.

"I don't know _what _your power is, but I don't really want to find out, so..." Two Xs flew out of the thief's hands, one turning into cables that bound Elasti-Girl's legs together, while the other one expanded to bind her arms to her sides. She quickly fell onto her face and began struggling, trying to get her trapped limbs free. When that didn't work, she started to grow... and within a few seconds, the cables that were binding her burst open as she expanded to three times her normal size. She stood up, now towering over Red X, who took several steps back until he found himself pinned against the wall of a cubicle, staring up into the eyes of a woman who was now sixteen feet tall. _"Oh... _that's _what her power is..._"

While this was going on, Robotman had stood up, and with Red X distracted by his teammate's transformation, the robotic member of the Doom Patrol had the perfect opportunity to strike. He rushed forward, slamming his fist into Red X's face and sending him flying through the back of the cubicle and into a nearby wall, making a small dent as his back hit the soft plaster.

"Aaaaaaaagh!" screamed the thief, raising his arms at a charging Robotman. _"This better work...!" _

A glowing red net burst forth from X's hands, temporarily stopping Robotman's charge and knocking him into the rubble of the destroyed cubicle. Relieved that he'd stopped Robotman, the thief turned to his left, and saw Negative Man staring him down from across the hallway.

"So... which pharaoh are you?" joked the thief, trying to get Negative Man to attack so he could see just what kind of powers he possessed. Negative Man silently obliged, manifesting a glowing black soulself that rushed forward at Red X, one of its arms held back in preparation to throw a punch. _"Well, THIS isn't so bad..."_

The thief fired several Xs at the soulself, but all of them passed right through, creating an explosion that did nothing to stop the dark energy manifestation that was headed the thief's way. The soulself's fist slammed into X's face, sending him flying backward and skidding along the ground several feet.

"_That's really not fair... I can't hit him, but he can hit me...?" _Red X got up and was forced to dodge several more of the soulself's blows, while at the same time, ducking under a super-sized punch sent his way by Elasta-Girl, who, together with Negative Man, had Red X trapped against the back wall of the building.

"Keep at him, Doom Patrol!" shouted Mento, launching another mental blast in Red X's direction as he too ran toward the back of the building to corner the thief. "We've just about got him beat!"

"You're not gonna knock me down again!" shouted Robotman, leaping over the wall of a cubicle to clear the distance between himself and the thief. The four members of the Doom Patrol had Red X trapped, and were closing in fast... a fact that the thief realized very quickly.

"_Ugh... I picked a _very_ bad day to rob this place... I could've gone tomorrow night, but nooooo... just _had _to come here tonight, that's when there would be nobody working here... damn..."_

O-O-O

After nearly ten minutes of fighting, all traffic had totally cleared from the bridge, giving the Titans as much room as they needed to combat their latest, dangerous opponent. With her flailing, outstretched arms, Madame Rouge was able to counter the Titans' second round of attacks, and had knocked Beast Boy and Terra onto their backs, leaving only Robin and Cyborg to contend with.

"You two are beginning to annoy me..." said Rouge, looking at Cyborg on her left, and Robin on her right. The two circled her cautiously, waiting for an opportunity to catch her off guard and launch an attack that she couldn't block.

All the while, both Robin and Cyborg were hoping that their flying female companions, Starfire and Raven, had managed to save all the people that Rouge had knocked off of the bridge... they couldn't bear the thought of so many people dying right in front of their eyes before they could lift even a finger to stop it.

"You didn't have to attack all of those people!" shouted Robin, having put his bo staff away in favor of other gadgets. "We were right there in front of you, if you wanted a fight all you had to do was attack _us_!"

"Oh, but where is the fun in that? Tell me... Robin, have you ever heard the screams of a thousand people? How about ten thousand? Do you know how delicious of a sound that is?"

"You are really starting to piss me off," said Robin, a _very _serious tone in his voice. "I don't care what I have to do, I won't let you hurt ANYONE else!"

Robin charged at Madame Rouge and threw several punches at her face and chest, landing more than half a dozen blows before she could begin to react. Surprised by Robin's sudden attack, Rouge tried to stretch herself to the side, only to be countered by Robin's fist slamming directly into her face, causing her to stumble back and nearly fall over. At the same time, Cyborg had rushed forward to get his own licks in, and launched a devastating uppercut that Rouge only barely managed to avoid by ducking under.

"I tire quickly of these games!" she shouted, quickly stretching out two of her arms and wrapping them around Robin and Cyborg's waists, tossing the two of them away. They landed on their feet and began charging forward again, giving Madame Rouge very little time to rest.

"Wait up for us!" shouted Beast Boy, standing up about the same time as Terra, and running with her to join the fight against the stretchy supervillainess. He turned into a rhino, blowing past Robin and Cyborg and charging at Rouge, hoping to put his horn right in the center of her chest. She stretched her legs upward, allowing Beast Boy to charge harmlessly between them. She had little time to savor the success of avoiding Beast Boy's attack, however, because Terra, standing up on a small chunk of pavement, was hovering in front of her, staring right into Rouge's eyes.

"Gotcha," said Terra, smiling and launching a punch right at Rouge's face. Rouge simply smiled and caught Terra's fist in her hand, her fingernails pressing painfully into Terra's skin, causing the geomancer to wince. _"How did she... she's so fast...!"_

"Pretty little girl, you know you have no chance against me..." And Rouge's fingers began to grow, stretching out and tightening around Terra's right arm, until it was completely trapped in the winding tendrils that just a few seconds ago had been a regular set of fingers. Then, Rouge's hand began to grow and stretch... and Rouge's entire arm... turning into a mass of flesh that began to envelop Terra's body. Terra attempted to struggle free, but soon, she found her chest, then her head, and then her entire upper body engulfed by Rouge's rapidly-growing arm. As she found herself being smothered, she let out a series of increasingly quiet cries, until she was completely silenced. She began kicking her legs furiously, until her legs too began to be engulfed. "That is it, take your final breath..."

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!!!"

Rouge had barely turned her head when a car slammed into her chest, immediately causing her hold on Terra to cease and her body to fly backward toward the side of the bridge. She landed right at the edge, her form having quickly reverted to normal, and she was groaning in pain. Terra landed on the ground next to Beast Boy, gasping for breath and a little bit shaken, but otherwise unharmed.

"Raven...?" said Terra and Beast Boy at the same time. They, along with Robin and Cyborg, were stunned and amazed to see Raven hovering at the other side of the bridge, a dark glow surrounding her body, along with every single car that Rouge had pushed off the bridge just a few minutes ago, save for the car that Raven had just tossed into Rogue's chest.

"How... how did you...?" said Madame Rouge in stunned bewilderment, which only grew even more when a smiling Starfire flew up from under the bridge and stood directly under Raven, her hands on her hips.

"Raven and I managed to rescue every single person you tossed from this structure... and their cars as well."

Before Rouge could react, Raven began hurling cars downward at her at the rate of two per second. The screaming, frantic Rouge was forced to dodge what she could and use her arms to knock away the rest, barely managing to avoid being buried under a pile of metallic scrap. By the time Raven had exhausted all of the cars, Rouge was gasping for breath, bent over with her hands on her knees, staring at the ground.

"_Wow..." _thought Beast Boy, standing next to Terra with a smile on his face. _"I thought Rouge would beat us, but... we're totally kicking her butt!"_

As soon as Rouge caught her breath, she looked up to see all six Titans staring at her, all of them still ready to fight.

"It is becoming increasingly apparent that perhaps this is not my day," said Madame Rouge, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible.

"That's right," replied Robin, beginning to walk toward her. "Today's the day you're going to jail."

Madame Rouge simply smiled, and began backing toward the side of the bridge.

"No... no, Robin, it is not... it is time that I made my escape. But rest assured, we will meet again, and you will not be so lucky."

"Don't let her get away!" shouted Beast Boy, and Robin nodded, starting into a run and extending his bo staff once more.

"She won't," said Robin, but an instant later, he and the other Titans received an incredible surprise. Madame Rouge had leapt off the side of the bridge, and when Robin looked down to watch her fall, he saw... absolutely nothing. "What the...? Where did she...?"

Underneath the bridge, Madame Rouge had stretched herself out, grabbing onto various cables with her arms and legs, pressing herself flat against the underside of the bridge and making it absolutely impossible for anyone to see her unless they were directly below. A smile was on her face as she hung silently out of sight.

"Perhaps she is under the bridge somewhere..." said Starfire, immediately flying below to check out the support poles holding the bridge upright. She suspected that Rouge might be clinging to one of those, never suspecting that anyone could cling to the cables beneath the bridge. Even if Starfire did look up, she would have to be at exactly the right spot, as the mass of beams and cables would conceal Rouge from view. After looking for nearly half a minute, Starfire emerged from below the bridge and sadly shook her head, letting the Titans know that Rouge was long gone.

"We need to get back to the Tower... so I can look up as much as I can about this new criminal," said Robin.

"I just can't believe that she was such a formidable opponent... I mean, all she could do was stretch her arms and legs," said Cyborg, a slightly surprised look on his face. "We still beat her, but... she gave all of us a workout, especially Terra."

He then turned toward Beast Boy and Terra, hoping to check on his blonde teammate's condition... but she was already deep in conversation, listening to Beast Boy tell her everything he knew about the mysterious Rouge.

"So... you used to fight her back before you even became a Teen Titan?"

"Yeah..." said Beast Boy, much more serious than he normally was. "Her name's Madame Rouge, and she's a member of the Brotherhood of Evil... I don't know what she's doing here, but wherever it is, it can't be good."

"Beast Boy," said Robin, walking over to the changeling with his usual, all-business look. "When we get back to the Tower, you need to tell me everything you know about Rouge. Her attack patterns, her personality... I know it's probably been a while, but-"

"Don't worry," replied Beast Boy, looking right into Robin's eyes. "I remember _everything_."

As he and Robin walked away, Cyborg walked over to Terra, finally able to get a word or two alone with her.

"I've never seen Beast Boy that serious before..." said Terra, looking at Cyborg, her hands in the pockets of her denim shorts. "I mean, not since... well..."

A look of sadness crossed Terra's face as she remembered her betrayal of the team... a betrayal that took place so long ago, but to Terra, would always seem like it had happened yesterday. She let out a sigh, and tried to put herself in a happy mood again, not wanting to dump all of her memories on Cyborg.

"But hey, at least we won, right? And everybody's safe?"

"Yeah... speaking of that, are you okay? I mean, I was trying to get over to get you out of that creepy arm thing as fast as I could, but it happened so fast that I-"

"Don't worry about it," said Terra, smiling once again. "It's over now, I'm all right... we'd better get back to the Tower, huh?"

And with that, Terra walked past Cyborg, leaving him wondering if perhaps Terra had something else on her mind... if she was still worried about betraying the team all those months ago.

"_Guess we've got another mysterious new villain on our hands," _thought Cyborg, following Terra and the rest of the team back to the T-Car. _"And I was just getting used to Sedaris being defeated..."_

O-O-O

Back at the Centech building, Red X's time was running out... the Doom Patrol had him backed against a wall, and were closing in fact.

"You have no way out," said Elasti-Girl, having just shrunk back to normal size. She and Mento were walking forward, while Robotman and Negative Man were coming at X from his sides. The thief was totally surrounded.

"Of course I have a way out," replied Red X, still managing to maintain his calm as the Doom Patrol got closer and closer. "It's through all of you!"

A barrage of exploding Xs flew toward the Doom Patrol, creating a large fireball and a cloud of smoke that briefly concealed the thief from view. He took this opportunity to charge right at Mento, throwing an elbow into his gut that caused him to double over.

"Unnnnnngggh...!" Mento held his ground and lunged forward to grab Red X, only to have the thief duck under his grasp and slide between his legs. "Come back here!"

Having gotten past Mento, Red X fled down the hallway, using several more explosive Xs to blow up nearby cubicles so that he could clear a path to the front door. He looked behind him and could see both Negative Man and Robotman giving chase, and watched as Elasti-Girl grew rapidly behind him, swelling first to twice, then three times, then four times her normal size, until she had to bend slightly over to keep from hitting the ceiling. She swiped at Red X with her overgrown hands, missing him twice. He turned around and formed an energy chain, looping it around Elasti-Girl's wrists and tugging as hard as he could, binding them together before breaking off into another run.

"_I hope this works..." _thought Red X as he ran toward the front door, pulling on the chain which now held the enlarged Elasti-Girl's wrists together in front of her. Sure enough, the force of Red X tugging on the chain caused Elasti-Girl to lose her footing, and she began to fall... right on top of Negative-Man and Robotman.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Mento to his comrades, but it was too late, and Elasti-Girl fell on top of both of them with a loud gasp. Releasing the chain in his hands, Red X chuckled to himself as he continued toward the exit, leaving three of the Doom Patrol's members in a groaning heap on the ground.

"_Score one for the bad guy..." _thought Red X to himself, stopping as he reached the front door and turning around to taunt the defeated Doom Patrol. "You guys are tough, but you're no Teen Titans... which is pretty sad, since you're all old enough to be their parents..."

By the time Elasti-Girl had returned to her normal size, Red X was long gone, laughing all the way back home. Negative Man crawled out from underneath his shape-shifting teammate, while Robotman gently nudged her off and then helped her stand.

"Are you all right, Rita?" asked Robotman, referring to Elasti-Girl by her real name. When she nodded, Mento let out a sigh of relief, then angrily clenched his fists, furious that he'd left the thief get away.

"C'mon, team, this isn't the Brotherhood of Evil we're dealing with! It's just one thief! If we can't stop a thief, then how are we going to stop the Brain from taking over the world?"

"Well... he did leave this behind," said Negative Man, picking up the disc that Red X had dropped at the start of the fight. "Looks like our thief has the memory of a goldfish."

The fact that Red X had failed to steal the disc didn't cheer Mento up even a little bit, and he angrily punched the pedestal that the disc had once been on, nearly knocking it over. Before he could do any more damage, Elasti-Girl placed a tender hand on his shoulder, which served to calm Mento down... if only a little bit.

"It's okay, Steve... we didn't come here to stop HIM anyway... remember, we still have a stop to make tonight. According to the information I received, Jump City's local crime-fighting team is the Teen Titans, and since they're likely to be the Brotherhood's first targets, we need to warn them about the Brain's presence right away."

Mento gave a nod of silent affirmation, though he didn't seem to like the fact that any other group of heroes would be getting involved. To him, the Doom Patrol was the only group of people that could deal with the Brotherhood of Evil... and he would be doing everything he could to make sure it stayed that way. When he warned the Titans to be careful, he would also tell them to keep out of the Doom Patrol's business.

He had no idea that the Doom Patrol and the Teen Titans had a common denominator... but he would soon find out.

O-O-O

As Sanza Salazar laid in bed that night, he couldn't stop thinking about the rush he'd gotten from that evening's battle with the Doom Patrol. He stared up at the ceiling, a smile on his face... sure, he'd left the disc behind, and he was kicking himself for that, but... the fight with the Doom Patrol was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He'd thought that maybe the Teen Titans would show up to stop him, but when that _other _team had gotten there, it was the surprise of his life...

"_I wonder what they're here for?" _thought Sanza to himself, staring up at the ceiling of his room and feeling the cool night breeze through his slightly opened window. It had been two weeks since he and the Titans had brought down Alex Sedaris, bodyguard-turned-psychopathic villain, and in doing so, had saved Jump City and all of California from a terrible cataclysm. He'd promised himself that even though he would help the Titans when he saw fit to do so, his main goal in life was to do whatever he wanted, and thus far, he'd stuck to it. He'd committed a string of robberies over the past two weeks, hitting building after building, warehouse after warehouse, and in his closet was a box filled with advanced technology. Not once in two weeks had the Titans shown up to stop him.

This was both a blessing and a disappointment. A disappointment because Sanza had always found fighting the Titans fun. As Red X, he had everything he needed to keep them from capturing him, and, though clearly outmatched if he fought them for long periods of time, was still quite adept at putting up a very competitive fight.

And a blessing because, save for the one time when she had been controlled by the Crisis Crystal, Terra and Red X never had to come to blows. Why Sanza disliked the prospect of fighting Terra was for a number of reasons... first, because Robin had not designed the suit with Terra in mind, there was no specific gadget in the suit's repertoire that could take her down. And second, because... Sanza was beginning to grow quite fond of Terra.

The last time they'd seen one another, Sanza and Terra had ended their conversation with a kiss... and it was a kiss that Sanza hadn't soon forgotten. He dreamed of that kiss, twice in the two weeks since it had happened.

"_Come on, Sanza, you're still getting over Cleo... that's gotta be why you feel this way about Terra..."_

There were a number of reasons why Sanza couldn't allow himself to fall in love with Terra. First off, she was still with Beast Boy... of course, that had never stopped Sanza from lusting after Starfire, despite knowing full well that she and Robin were a couple. Secondly, Sanza didn't want to be hurt again... after his relationship with Cleo had ended so disastrously, he blamed himself for letting her be placed in danger... though he knew that Terra, with her incredible powers of earth manipulation, could definitely take care of herself.

But all of these thoughts of the Doom Patrol and the Titans and Terra were quickly halted when someone flipped the light switch, bringing a flood of luminescence to Sanza's eyes.

"Unnngh... mom, turn those back off..."

"Sanza, it's only eight-thirty... don't tell me you've worn yourself out again going out on one of your criminal escapades..."

Sanza could hear the disappointment and annoyance in his mother Maria's voice as she walked toward him, finally kneeling down beside his bed and staring into his eyes.

"You know that the only reason I tolerate you being Red X is that I know you're capable of doing good with that suit... but every day on the news I hear about another robbery you've committed, and I know more and more in my heart that I'm partially responsible!"

"Mom..." said Sanza sleepily, rubbing his eyes and sitting up, slipping out of his covers in nothing more than a white undershirt and a pair of black boxers. "You know that if I'm gonna help people, I have to keep practicing, and the best way to do that is by breaking into buildings and stealing stuff..."

"That's a load of crap and you know it, Sanza!" Maria shouted, her hands on her hips. She slid her foot underneath the bed, using her heel to push out the long white box that contained Sanza's Red X costume, and using her foot to take off the top of the box. "You want me to burn this thing, because I will! Not only are you committing crimes, you're endangering yourself by going out and stealing! Don't think I won't toss this suit into the ocean..."

"If you wanted to do that, you'd have done it already, and you know it," said Sanza with a smile, looking right into his mother's eyes. "C'mon... you know I never hurt anyone... and I'm only stealing from big, rich corporations, which, by the way that you're always yelling about politics and such, I know you hate just as much as I do."

"That is beside the point!" said Maria, leaning in closer so that her son knew just what she was trying to tell him. "Not only are you breaking the law, you're breaking one of God's commandments! Honestly, Sanza, do you even care about that?"

Sanza opened his mouth to speak, but then realized that he wasn't going to be able to do anything to stave off another long, lecture from his mother. He let out a sigh and bowed his head, preparing to hear it for at least another half-hour.

But Maria said nothing. For ten seconds, she just stood there, staring down at her son, wondering what she could possibly say or do to get through to him... and she knew that, even though he was a thief, he was also a hero... a hero who'd saved the city on numerous occasions, and millions of lives in the process. She wasn't in the mood to argue any further about semantics. With a sigh even louder than the one her son had given earlier, she bent down and put the top back on the box bearing Sanza's Red X suit, then slid the box back under the bed.

"Honestly, Sanza, I don't know what I'm going to do with you..." she said, shaking her head sadly and turning to leave.

"How about giving me a good night kiss?" asked Sanza, the smile returning to his face. Rolling her eyes, Maria turned back to her son and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. She then turned toward the door and walked out, but not before saying one last thing to her son.

"We will discuss this in the morning," said Maria. "Just remember that no matter what, you will always be my precious angel... I love you, Sanza."

"Love you too, mom," said Sanza, yawning as his mother turned out the light and closed the door. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he closed his eyes, a smile still on his face. _"She keeps saying she doesn't approve of me being Red X, but every day the costume stays under my bed is just another way of her telling me, 'Go ahead and steal as much as you want, as long as you don't kill anybody I won't stop you.' Ah... that's my mom for you."_

And with that, Sanza drifted off into slumber.

O-O-O

Three hours later, he found his slumber interrupted by a loud banging noise from just outside his room. He sat up in bed and walked quickly over to his door, wondering if maybe his mom had fallen on the way to the bathroom... at least, that was his initial thought.

"What in the hell was that...?" he muttered quietly to himself, creaking open his door and stepping out into the hallway. As soon as he did, he heard another noise... this time, a brief, muffled, but fairly loud cry coming from the adjacent room... Maddy's room. _"Maddy...?"_

He walked over to her door as quickly as he could, ripping it open and turning on the light. When he saw what was going on, his eyes went wide.

"_Sanza...!!!"_

A Sladebot was standing next to Maddy's bed, holding the girl about two feet above the ground, her legs kicking wildly beneath her. She was being held tightly, one arm around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides, while another of the Sladebot's arms was up by her face, its hand clamped tightly down over her mouth. She looked into Sanza's eyes with a horrified expression, giving another muffled cry while struggling as much as she could.

"You bastard... LET HER GO!"

O-O-O

The Titans, meanwhile, were having a much more tranquil evening... at least, all of them but Robin and Beast Boy. For several hours, Robin had been gathering as much information that he could about Madame Rouge... and from what Beast Boy had been telling him, Rouge wasn't working alone.

"So that's everything I know," said Beast Boy, sitting across a desk from Robin in what typically was used as the Tower's interrogation room. Unlike most of the people who had sat across from Robin in that room, Beast Boy was more than willing to tell Robin as much as possible. By the time he was done talking, Robin had been able to gather information not just on Madame Rouge, but on her companions... the timeless General Immortus, the profoundly intelligent Monsieur Mallah, and the most dangerous Brotherhood member of all... its leader, the Brain.

"So you say that Madame Rouge never attacks without her three teammates," said Robin, worry beginning to form in his eyes. "Which means that... if Madame Rouge is in the city, the other three can't be far behind."

"Yeah..." said Beast Boy quietly, looking down at his hands, which had begun to tremble nervously as he set them on the desk. "The Brotherhood of Evil is in Jump City..."

Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room opened, and Starfire and Cyborg entered, both of them seemingly quite excited.

"Quickly, you must come to the main room! There are four people here who wish to meet with us!"

"Yeah, they call themselves the Doom Patrol, or something like that..."

"The DOOM PATROL?!" shouted Beast Boy, his eyes widening. Almost immediately, he crouched into a ball and hid beneath his chair, trembling violently. "Tell me when they're gone..."

"Beast Boy," said Robin, getting up from his chair and walking over to his changeling friend. "Let me guess... you know them too?"

"Yeah..." said Beast Boy, poking his head out from under the chair and looking up at Robin, a nervous expression clearly visible on his face. "I used to work with them..."

Back in the main room, the four members of the Doom Patrol had made themselves at home. Negative Man and Robot Man were seated together on one couch, while on the center couch facing the television were Mento and Elasti-Girl, currently engaged in conversation with Raven and Terra, seated on the final couch.

"So... that stretchy woman we fought today... she's one of them?!" asked Terra, having already been told about the Brotherhood of Evil by Mento. "Geez, if there's three more, then..."

"Your city is in grave danger," said Elasti-Girl. "That is why we came to warn you, so you could-"

The other four Titans, including a very reluctant Beast Boy, entered the room and began walking over to the sitting area. Beast Boy hid behind Cyborg, trying to keep himself concealed from view... the last time he'd been with the Doom Patrol was not a pleasant experience... as it had been his _in_experience that had led to the Brotherhood of Evil's escape.

"C'mon, man," whispered Cyborg, trying to get Beast Boy to show himself. "You haven't seen these guys in two years, the least you could do is say hi!"

"You must be Robin," said Mento, standing up and walking over to the Titans' leader. "I've heard a lot about you... I thought you'd be a bit taller."

"So, what's this all about?" asked Robin, wanting to cut right to the chase. "If this has anything to do with what happened earlier tonight, I already know about Madame Rouge and the Brotherhood of Evil."

The mention of the Brotherhood of Evil came as a bit of a surprise to Mento and the other Doom Patrol members... since their main purpose for visiting Titans' Tower was to warn the team about the Brotherhood's presence.

"You already know...?" asked Robotman, standing up along with Negative Man and Elasti-Girl. _"Maybe this meeting will be a lot shorter than I thought..."_

"Hmm..." Mento began to quietly concentrate, and his mind energy filled the room, reading the thoughts of every one of the Teen Titans... almost immediately, he noticed a familiar pattern of brain waves coming from behind Cyborg. Beast Boy sensed Mento's probing and knew immediately that he'd been discovered. Very meekly, he stepped out from behind Cyborg and bowed his head. "Garfield, you're the _last _person I expected to see here!"

"It's been a while, sir..." Beast Boy said quietly, struggling to bring himself to look up into Mento's eyes.

"Wait a minute... Garfield?" said Cyborg, looking beside him at Beast Boy. "Your name is... Garfield?"

Terra, still seated on a couch some distance away, could barely contain her amusement at the revelation of Beast Boy's real name. She put both of her gloved hands over her mouth, but still could not stop the laughs from coming, trying to turn her head so that Beast Boy wouldn't see her having so much fun at his expense.

"Garfield, we've missed you..." said Elasti-Girl, calmly walking over to Beast Boy, whom, during his time as a member of the Doom Patrol, she'd treated as if he were her son. "It is a relief to see that you're in such good hands."

"I wouldn't say that," said Mento, looking around the main room of the Tower with his hands on his hips. "This place is a pig sty... though I can't say I'm surprised, knowing what happened the _last _time we were together."

"Steve, Please..." said Elasti-Girl quietly, looking back at Mento before returning her gaze to Beast Boy, a much calmer expression on her face. "So... you've already told them about the Brotherhood of Evil?"

"We've already _fought _the Brotherhood of Evil," said Robin, "one of them, at least... Madame Rouge."

"Rouge?!" said Negative Man, showing an uncharacteristic amount of surprise before returning to his normally calm demeanor. "Surprised you made it out alive."

"Of course they did," said Robotman, an encouraged smile on his face. "They had Garfield leading them, I'm sure with him in charge, everything turned out-"

"Actually, Robin is the leader of the Teen Titans..." said Starfire calmly, pointing at him. "Though all of us, including Garfield... Beast Boy, are quite capable of fighting with strength and skill."

"I'll be the judge of that," Mento replied sternly, walking over to Beast Boy and placing a hand on his shoulder. "You and your new teammates might have gotten lucky, but the Brotherhood of Evil is dangerous... too dangerous for these amateurs to handle. You might be better off coming with us."

"W...what?!" said Beast Boy, his eyes widened in surprise. "You want me to..."

"Now just hold on," said Robin, interposing himself between Beast Boy and Mento. "I understand your concern, but my team can handle itself just fine... we didn't have any trouble taking down Madame Rouge, and from what Beast Boy told me about the rest of the Brotherhood of Evil, we can handle them too."

"That's right!" said Cyborg, smiling confidently. "Anybody who messes with our city is gonna have to deal with the Teen Titans... and there hasn't been a bad guy yet who can take us down!"

Mento just snorted, turning away from the Titans and facing the wall at the back of the room.

"You have no idea what the Brotherhood of Evil is capable of..." said Mento quietly, his eyes narrowing. "Right now, they're likely concocting a plan to take over the entire world... and trust me, once they've started, they're almost impossible to stop."

O-O-O

"_Sanza, help me!!!"_

Maddy continued to struggle in the Sladebot's grasp, but she didn't possess nearly the amount of strength she would need to get herself free, and she knew it... if she had any hope of being saved, it would be up to her big brother to do it.

"Don't worry, Maddy, I'll get you out...!" He turned to exit the room, immediately going for his Red X costume... but another Sladebot stood in the doorway, blocking his path. He turned back toward Maddy, charging forward in an attempt to make the Sladebot drop her. It complied, releasing Maddy and letting her fall to the ground, then immediately snapping one of its arms forward, clenching tightly around Sanza's neck. Sanza let out a loud gasp, while Maddy crawled away as fast as she could, standing up and immediately realizing the situation her brother was in.

"SANZA!!!"

Sanza could feel the Sladebot's fingers tightening around his neck, and began punching it repeatedly with his right hand, aiming punch after punch into the side of the Sladebot's metallic skull. The blows did much more damage to Sanza's hand than they did to the Sladebot's face, but he didn't care, and he continued to punch until finally, the side of the Sladebot's head ripped open, sending sparks and scraps of metal flying to the side. The Sladebot released Sanza, and he dropped hard to the ground, landing next to Maddy, who immediately wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Sanza, I'm so glad you're okay...!"

"We're not okay yet, Maddy..." said Sanza, looking back to make sure he'd incapacitated the first Sladebot before looking forward at the second, still standing in the doorway. "Maddy... I'm gonna charge that thing... as soon as I clear you a path, you run, run as fast as you can into my room, go down the fire escape and get as far away as you can!"

Maddy said nothing... she stared up at the Sladebot and reached back, her hand tightly gripping one of her brother's... she wasn't about to let him go.

"Sanza... I'm not leaving you, you can't fight these things alone!"

"Maddy, I am NOT letting you stay here, now I told you, when I get this thing out of the way, you RUN, and that's-"

From another room, more loud yelling could be heard... angry and frantic, and accompanied by the sounds of loud crashes and bangs... it was Maria, and it was coming from downstairs.

"MOM!" Sanza and Maddy cried out, looking into each other's eyes with the same, fearful expression.

Putting Maddy aside for now, Sanza immediately charged into the Sladebot in front of the door, barreling into it shoulder first and sending it crashing into the wall. There was a loud flash and a bright blue spark, followed by the Sladebot slumping lifelessly to the ground, de-activated in one mighty blow. Then, without saying a word, Sanza leapt over the Sladebot and dashed downstairs, coming quickly to his mother's rescue. When he got to the bottom step, he looked into the living room and saw his mother Maria, holding a large baseball bat and standing on one side of the room, fending off three Sladebots that were in various states of de-construction, one of them missing its arm, another missing one of its legs and hopping Maria's way.

"You fucking bastards want a piece of me, you come and get it, I fucking dare you!!" Maria shouted, hurling a tirade of Spanish profanities at the Sladebots. One of them lunged at her, only for her to respond by ducking out of the way and swinging around, aiming a brutal spinning kick right at its back that knocked its now de-activated frame into the chair facing the television. Another of the Sladebots grabbed onto her arm, trying to wrench the baseball bat out of her hands. Furiously, she let out a scream, slamming her fist repeatedly into the Sladebot's shoulder with as much force as she could.

"Mom, I'm coming!!"

Sanza dashed into the living room and tackled the Sladebot that had grabbed Maria to the ground, inadvertently taking his mother with it. As the three briefly wrestled on the floor, Sanza managed to land a punch to the back of the Sladebot's head that shattered its armor plating, causing it to de-activate as well. The final Sladebot in the room, the one with only one leg left, began trying to hop away, only to have Maria stand up and rush over to it, using her baseball bat to knock out its final leg. The Sladebot, now just a head and torso, fell to the ground, where it met a grisly end at the hands of Maria and her baseball bat. After the final Sladebot was vanquished, an exhausted and terrified Maria fell to her knees, dripping with sweat and oil, her hands trembling as she let the baseball bat fall to the ground.

"Sanza..." said Maria, turning her head toward him with a half-angry, half-scared look in her eyes, "why... are there Sladebots... in our house...?"

"_That's what I'd like to know..." _thought Sanza, trembling as well as he placed his hand on his mother's shoulder. _"Dammit... I thought I was done with Slade... I should have known..._

"Mmmmm, mmmmm!!!"

A muffled cry from the kitchen re-directed both Sanza and Maria's attention straight ahead, where one final Sladebot still remained, clutching Maddy tightly to him. One hand was held over Maddy's mouth, while the other held a knife to her throat.

"MADDY!!!" screamed Maria, standing up and reaching out toward the Sladebot, trying to pry her daughter from its deadly grasp. "Let go of her NOW!!!"

Maddy, her eyes once again wide with terror, had come down to assist her mother and brother in their fight, and had been grabbed from behind, unable to do anything to resist. She gave another loud cry, and a single tear passed down the right side of her face... she was scared for herself, but was also sad for her mother and Sanza, who were obviously as terrified as she was. _"I'm... so sorry..."_

"I've had enough of this!!" shouted Sanza, picking up the discarded baseball bat and walking into the kitchen. "Slade, your fight is with ME, not my family...!"

"Sanza, stop!" shouted Maria, weakly grabbing onto Sanza's arm in an attempt to hold him back. He wrenched his arm free and took another step forward, looking right into the Sladebot's eyes.

"I said... let... her... GO!!!" Swinging the baseball bat as hard as he could, Sanza smashed the bat into the side of the Sladebot's head... but instead of knocking it off, it only went an inch to the side... and immediately returned to its original position, its mechanical eyes narrowing in artificial rage.

"_If I don't do something... I'm gonna die...!" _thought Maddy, feeling the knife press even harder into her tender skin. _"This is it... if this doesn't work...!"_

Converting all of her fear into sheer determination, Maddy grabbed the wrist of the arm that was holding the knife to her throat, pushing it back as hard as she could. She moved the knife a couple of inches away, which was all she needed to slip herself free, wrenching her face out of the Sladebot's grip and ducking under its arms, running past Sanza and into the waiting embrace of her mother. Now that Maddy was safe, Sanza knew that he could put all of his effort into smashing the Sladebot... and that's exactly what he did, hitting it with the bat numerous times in the head and chest. At first, the blows did little damage, but soon, sparks could begin to be seen, and after a few more hits, the Sladebot fell to its knees, smoke pouring from its body. Sanza, now extremely exhausted, dropped the bat and stumbled back, until he was standing beside his mother and sister, wiping away the sweat that had gathered on his face.

"Is it... over...?" Sanza said quietly, crouching into a fighting stance.

"Oh, it's far from over."

The voice was immediately familiar, and brought a chill down the spines of all three members of the Salazar family. The front panel of the Sladebot's face fell away, revealing a small, lit screen that showed the shadowed figure of Slade, his one visible eye looking directly at Sanza.

"You thought that just because you've had a few months of peace, that I've given up on you? Sanza, you must know by now that I never, _ever_ give up. I've been watching you... ever since you decided once more to put on the mask, I've seen everything... watched you save the city, watched you steal... and I remember now exactly why I want you to be my apprentice. No, I don't want you... I _need _you, Sanza."

"FORGET IT!" shouted Sanza, clenching his fists, his face a twisted expression of pure rage. "YOU CAN GO TO HELL!"

"You'll be changing your tone, I assure you... just know this. Tonight was just a warning... these Sladebots, merely messengers. If you don't do exactly as I ask, that message will quickly harshen... and those you hold dear will suffer more than you could ever imagine. I will give you a day or two to think about what I have said... just remember, Sanza, I'll always be watching you."

The screen flashed off, and the Sladebot fell on its face, its metallic frame making a loud crash against the tiled kitchen floor.

Slade's latest message left Sanza, Maria, and Maddy stunned and horrified... and all of them knew that it would only get worse in the days to come.

O-O-O

And so begins the final part of my epic Red X trilogy... things are already looking bad for Sanza and the Titans as they deal with their most dangerous threats to date! But are these threats really so different? Find out next chapter... your reviews are very much appreciated!


	2. A Tale Of Two Reunions

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Beast Boy had a decision to make. For two years, he'd been with the Teen Titans, after having left the Doom Patrol on rather unfortunate terms. Now, there was a threat to Jump City, the same threat that Beast Boy and the Doom Patrol had failed to stop... the Brotherhood of Evil was back, and from what it seemed like in the Titans' battle on the bridge, they were as dangerous as ever.

But he also knew that his new team, the Teen Titans, was a force to be reckoned with... and while they made have lacked some of the Doom Patrol's experience, in terms of sheer power and raw determination, they were the best around.

Of course, there was also the matter of Terra... who at the moment was seated next to Beast Boy on the couch, her fingers firmly clasped around his hand as she and the rest of her teammates listened to Mento's continued rant about how dangerous the Brotherhood of Evil was.

"You know that we're not just going to back down from a threat," said Robin, still trying to convince Mento that his team was more than capable of handling the Brotherhood of Evil. While the other Titans, as well as Elasti-Girl, Negative Man, and Robotman made themselves comfortable on the couches, the leaders of the two respective teams were standing next to the television, having an increasingly spirited discussion. "Now that we know that there's a threat to the city, we're going to fight it and there's nothing you can do to stop us!"

"If you want to endanger yourselves like a bunch of reckless kids, that's fine, but I'm not about to let you put Garfield in that kind of danger!" shouted Mento. "If you're going to fight the Doom Patrol, then he..." Mento then pointed to Beast Boy. "...is coming with us, and that's final!"

"So wait..." said Terra, releasing Beast Boy's hand and standing up from the couch. "If this whole argument was just about Beast Boy, then why don't you let him make the decision for himself? He's old enough to know which team he wants to be with, and I don't think you have any right to tell him otherwise."

"Terra...?" Beast Boy quietly reached up from the couch, trying to pull his friend back... but the blonde would not be denied, and she continued staring at Mento, her arms across her chest.

Mento stared at Terra for several seconds. Then, ignoring everything she'd said, he walked around her and approached Beast Boy, looking down at him with a stern, authoritative expression.

"Garfield, you can't go running into battle with these people," said Mento. "It's not safe. If _we _couldn't beat the Brotherhood of Evil, then there's no way that these people can, and you know that. They might be your friends, but..."

"...but they're not your family, Garfield..." said Elasti-Girl calmly, standing up and walking over to Mento and Beast Boy. Her tone was much less forceful, it was... comforting, much like that of a mother... which was easy to understand, as Beast Boy knew that she was the closest thing to a mother that he'd ever had. As soon as she had finished speaking, Beast Boy's eyes took on a sad look... he stared down at the ground, guilt beginning to overwhelm him... not just guilt that he'd failed the Doom Patrol, but that he'd left them behind... he felt almost as if he'd betrayed them.

It was then that Starfire, having listened intently to the ongoing conversation, and having slowly and carefully formed her own opinion on the matter, began to speak with a tone even calmer and more understanding than Elasti-Girl's. Her voice reflected sincerity, kindness, and even a small amount of love, and it brought a very serene presence to the tense situation.

"Beast Boy... I do not yet understand the complexities of your relationship with the Patrol of Doom, but... please know that I have always considered you to be like a member of my family... that goes for everyone in this room as well."

Beast Boy looked up at Starfire, not quite knowing what to say... he still felt as if he was indebted to the Doom Patrol, but... Starfire's words did contain a great degree of truth... and he knew that they came straight from her heart.

"Starfire is right," agreed Raven, whose voice was the last that Beast Boy expected to hear, especially as part of an argument trying to convince him to remain with the team. "Beast Boy, we might not be as experienced as these people, but... as a team, we share a bond... and that bond can carry us through anything. It helped us beat Trigon, and it's going to help us beat this Brotherhood, whoever they are."

"That's right, man... I mean, you can go with these guys if you want, but... we're the Teen Titans!" said Cyborg, an enthusiastic smile on his face. "We kick butt and take names, and there's not a brotherhood alive that can bring us down!"

Beast Boy looked around at the rest of his team... Robin wasn't smiling, but he was giving a quiet nod... and when he turned to Terra, she sat down next to him and looked into his eyes, taking both of his hands into her own.

"Beast Boy... I know we've been through a lot together, good and bad, but... it would mean so much to me if you'd stay..."

And Terra's smile was all the convincing that Beast Boy needed. Seeing that the decision wasn't going to go his way, Mento gave a disapproving growl and turned to the other members of his team.

"Garfield, you can do what you want... Doom Patrol, we have a mission to complete. Let's go."

Negative Man and Robotman stood up from their couch, following their leader Mento to the front door. Elasti-Girl started to do the same... then, feeling a great deal of sadness, turned back toward Beast Boy and knelt down in front of him, handing him a slip of paper.

"Garfield, this is the address and phone number of the place we're going to be staying..." she whispered, trying one last time to convince him to leave with the Doom Patrol. "If you change your mind..."

"Rita, I know..." Beast Boy whispered back. "It's okay... the Teen Titans are my friends, and we can take care of ourselves."

But there was a hint of uncertainty in Beast Boy's voice, and Elasti-Girl could sense it as she spoke. She wrapped her arms tightly around Beast Boy, giving him one last hug before turning and leaving with the others.

After the Doom Patrol left, nobody spoke... Robin didn't sit down, and the other Titans didn't stand up... they'd received a piece of very troubling news, and they knew that they had a lot of work to do.

"So, Madame Rouge wasn't working alone... there are three other members of the Brotherhood of Evil, and they'll definitely be trying to recruit as many other villains as they can to their cause. We'll need to be alert, and we'll need to be ready. Titans... we have a long night ahead of us."

And with that, Robin began to relay to the rest of the team everything that Beast Boy had told him.

O-O-O

The horrifying events of the previous night were still sinking in that morning at breakfast... Slade was someone that the Salazar family hoped they'd never have to deal with again... but he was back, and back with a vengeance.

Maria hadn't been able to compose herself enough to cook, so that morning's breakfast consisted of a bowl of corn flakes and a tall glass of orange juice... and the family was even having trouble eating _that_.

"I knew, Sanza... I knew that suit of yours would be a problem..." said Maria, glaring over at her son with one eye on him and another on her spoon, stirring around the soggy cereal in her bowl. "You have to go to Titans Tower... you have to get them to take care of this."

"No," Sanza replied softly, looking down into his cereal bowl. "I don't want to get them involved."

"Why the hell not?" Maria asked, dropping her spoon into the bowl and focusing all of her attention on her son. "That's what you did last time, why is this any different?"

Why _was _this any different? The Titans knew exactly who Sanza was, he'd always gone to them before when he had a problem to deal with... whether it was with Slade or with Sedaris, he and the Titans, strange bedfellows as they were, still made a potent combination... and they'd even begun to trust one another, albeit reluctantly.

But this time was different for one reason, and one reason alone. Terra. Sanza had spoken with Terra, and he'd seen her in action... and he'd seen what Slade had done to her. She'd become so afraid of him, so enraged with him that she'd sacrificed herself to kill him... if Terra knew that he had returned, knew that he was once again in the process of making plans to take over the city... he didn't want Terra to have to go through anything like that ever again. Not like what he was going through now.

"I'll deal with Slade myself," said Sanza, looking up from his bowl and directly into his mother's eyes. "Don't tell the Titans about _any _of this."

Maria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her son had never had any problems with the Titans before, besides the occasional battles they'd had against one another. Now all of a sudden, in Sanza's hour of need, when his family's lives were in danger, he wanted to take care of everything on his own?

She began to wonder... could his recent string of robberies have anything to do with his reluctance to involve the Titans in his affairs? Had they been trying to arrest him, was _that _the reason he didn't want their help?

"Sanza... please, I know you're worried they'll arrest you, but-"

"It's not that," Sanza replied. "I just don't want to get them involved."

Of course... part of him_ did _want to involve the Titans, the part of him that was absolutely horrified of Slade, the part of him that cared deeply for the well-being of his mother and sister... _that _part of Sanza wanted him to drive down to that Tower right now and tell them everything, tell them that he desperately needed their help, needed their help to find Slade and take him out once and for all...

Sanza's mother had no idea how reluctant her son was to choose this path.

"Mom..." said Maddy quietly, picking up her now-empty cereal bowl and carrying it over to the sink. "I... I believe in Sanza, mom... I think he can take care of this on his own."

Maddy returned to the table and stood beside Sanza's chair, smiling and placing her hand on his shoulder in a show of support. He looked up at her, surprised at first... knowing how scared she'd been the previous night, how close she'd come to death at the hands of that Sladebot... but he knew that deep within his sister's kind heart, there was an incredible strength... an optimism, a resolve... no matter what happened, Maddy would always bounce back, would always support her brother, whom she loved with all of her being. Though she was only twelve, she had courage and wisdom beyond her years, and as annoying as she could be at times, Sanza greatly admired her for it.

"Maddy... this isn't some game, your brother isn't a superhero, and all of us are in real danger!" said Maria, her voice rising with every second. "I know you love your brother, but he can't do this on his own!"

"But... he saved the city... and... he saved both of us, remember?" said Maddy, trying to get her mother to recall that terrible time when they had both been abducted by Slade. "Slade kidnapped us, and Sanza came, and-"

"That was the Titans that saved you guys... not me," said Sanza, sadly bowing his head toward the ground. Maddy smiled and shook her head.

"Uh-uh, that was you... YOU fought Slade, and YOU gave the Titans the time they needed to come and rescue us! You saved us last time and I know you can save us this time... I believe in you, Sanza!"

Maria just let out a sigh and shook her head, looking away from her children and trying to diminish her own fears as much as she could. She wanted so desperately to believe that her son could beat Slade on his own... and she knew that while Sanza was no superhero, he certainly was a _hero_... but she also knew that she had to face facts. The last time Sanza had battled Slade, he'd sustained terrible injuries, and had nearly been killed... and if the Titans, particularly Robin and Starfire, hadn't bailed him out, he may have met a terrible end.

But before the discussion could continue, Sanza, while hugging his sister, realized that he was going to miss the bus to school. Verbally stating that fact, he stood up from his chair, picked up his backpack, and exited the kitchen, leaving his half-eaten bowl of cereal on the table as he left. Maddy helpfully picked it up and carried it to the sink before making her own trip out of the house, waiting for her own bus which she knew would be coming in just a few minutes.

Maria just sat at the table, watching her children walk out the door... and beginning to feel the terrible fear that she might just be watching them leave for the last time.

O-O-O

Because of the Doom Patrol's visit, and subsequent briefing by Robin, the Teen Titans hadn't gotten very much sleep... and at that morning's breakfast, it was easy to tell who had been lying awake in bed after they'd all finally gotten the chance to go to their rooms.

"I can barely keep my eyes open..." moaned Beast Boy, saved at the last moment by Terra from falling face-first into his cereal. As soon as she'd seen his eyes closed, she'd grabbed him by the hair, and as painful as that was, it spared him the embarrassment of ending up with a faceful of Cheerios. "Thanks."

"Were you having nightmares?" asked Starfire, a curious smile on her face. "On Tamaran, a common cure for nightmares is the root of the placus tree... fortunately, I have stashed a generous amount of said root in my closet for easy access!"

"I... think maybe Beast Boy just needs a nap this afternoon," said Robin, looking over at his teammate with some concern. "I'll be doing some more research on the Brotherhood of Evil, but if you want to take a nap, then-"

"No, no," said Beast Boy, though his desire to stay up and help Robin was in fierce conflict with his desire to catch some more shut-eye, and his constant yawn as he spoke was affirmation of that fact. "Nobody on this team knows more about the Brotherhood than me, I need to help out..."

"And just how are you going to help him?" asked Raven, pulling the bowl of cereal away from Beast Boy's face just in time to keep him from planting his head into it... as he dozed off, his forehead smacked the table instead, giving him a painful reminder that he needed to stay awake. "You can barely eat breakfast, let alone recall all those memories you have of fighting with the Doom Patrol. You need sleep for your mind to be able to focus. I'll help Robin with his research, I remember everything he said."

"Thanks, Raven..." said Beast Boy, rubbing his forehead painfully. "For the offer to help, not for pulling that cereal out of the way... that hurt!"

But the subject of the conversation quickly shifted away from last night's events. While the Brotherhood of Evil was certainly dangerous, the Titans were responsible for bringing down all of Jump City's supervillains... and one in particular had been getting a lot of press.

"There's also the matter of Red X's most recent string of robberies to deal with," said Robin, a stern look on his face. "Despite the fact that just two weeks ago, he helped us save the city... he's still a criminal, and he needs to be brought to justice."

"And... because we know who he is and where he lives..." said Raven, stating what Robin and the other Titans already knew, "it wouldn't be too incredibly hard just to go to his house and arrest him."

"Yeah, but... I mean, look at everything he's done for the city," said Cyborg, "and everything he's done for us! I mean, Raven, remember the time he saved you and-"

"Yes, I remember." Raven's expression didn't change, but she did recall the memory with incredible clarity... and the thought of how close she'd come to death at Sedaris' hands still made her tremble. "But that doesn't change the fact that he's started stealing again. He's a criminal, and-"

"And the Teen Titans have to bring him down." Robin glanced over at Starfire, who nodded, albeit with a very sad look on her face.

"Wait," said Terra, standing up from her seat and looking around at the rest of the group. "Now, I don't know Sanza as well as the rest of you do, but... he's not a dangerous person, not at all! Sure, he might occasionally steal a few things, but... I mean..." Terra looked down at the ground, and from the look of regret in her eyes, her friends knew exactly what she was about to say. "I've done lots of terrible things in the past, and you still let me back onto the team."

"You don't do those things anymore, Terra," said Robin. "It said on the news that Red X attempted to steal something just last night. And three nights ago he actually DID steal something. Something very valuable."

"The point is, Terra... we can't just go easy on Red X because we know him," said Raven, "or even if some of us like him. The fact is, we're the Teen Titans, and it's our job to put people like Red X in jail."

"...let me talk to him," said Terra, a slight hint of pleading in her voice. "Tonight... tonight I'll go talk to him, I'll try to get him not to steal anymore. He'll listen to me, I know he will."

"...why would he listen to you?" asked Robin, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Because he and Terra have shared a lot of the same experiences," said Raven, looking over at Terra. "Both of them know what it's like to be on both sides of the law, and... both of them know what it's like to deal with Slade."

Robin's eyes narrowed as Raven mentioned Slade... that was one bond that he too shared with Terra and Red X. But even then, Robin still knew the difference between right and wrong. He didn't go to Slade willingly, and even when he was forced to work for him, he took every opportunity he had to try and fight his way out, putting the lives of both he and his friends in danger.

"Terra..." said Beast Boy softly, looking up at his blonde friend, his eyes reflecting a hint of concern. "Be careful, okay?"

"Sanza wouldn't hurt me," replied Terra, sitting back down and giving Beast Boy a reassuring look. "He's... he's not a bad person. _And... he understands me..._"

Beast Boy said nothing for a couple of seconds... then, slowly nodded his consent. Terra turned to Robin, and he too nodded... though it was clear that he was reluctant to do so.

"I know you don't want to fight him, Terra, but... that's part of what being a Teen Titan is all about," said Robin.

"I understand," Terra replied calmly. Without a word, she resumed eating her cereal, and the other Titans did so as well. _"Sanza... I really hope I don't ever have to fight you."_

O-O-O

After an uneventful day at school, Sanza decided that instead of taking the bus home, he would walk. As slender as he was, he still needed the exercise... and the 45 minute trip home would give him time to think... time that he sorely needed.

Of course, he was thinking about Slade. Why wouldn't he, after everything that had happened to him? He knew that choosing to fight Slade alone, without the Titans' interference, was a very reckless thing to do... and why was protecting Terra all of a sudden more important than protecting his family?

"_If I told the Titans about Slade, Terra might be forced to deal with that part of her past again, but... at least I'd know for sure that my family was safe."_

But were they really? Sanza knew well that the last time he'd gotten the Titans to help him deal with Slade, his family had been kidnapped anyway... Slade could strike at any time, from anywhere, in any way. Not even the Titans knew what he was thinking... so how would getting their help be any assurance that his family would be safe?

It wasn't... and that's why Sanza was able to avoid second-guessing himself in that regard. Whether he got the Titans' help or not, Maddy and Maria would still be in danger... and the threat, as always, had made this a personal matter.

Slade would find out once again what happens to people who messed with Sanza's loved ones.

"_I promise you that, Slade... I'll make you regret that you ever thought about hurting them."_

As Sanza reached the halfway point of his journey, about a mile from his house, the cell phone in his pocket began to ring.

"_Probably mom," _thought Sanza, _"wondering why I haven't gotten home from school yet. It's not like I walk everyday..."_

He took the phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear... and out came a very familiar voice.

It wasn't Maria.

"Sanza, it's good to be speaking with you again. I trust you got my message last night?"

Surprised and infuriated by the sound of Slade's voice, Sanza nearly threw his phone to the ground... but at the last moment, his calmer side prevailed, and he put the phone back up to his ear.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"Defiant as always, but I will cure you of that soon enough. What I want you to do right now is to look around you. Go on, look."

Reluctantly, Sanza did as he was told, seeing no harm in just observing his surroundings. From his position on the sidewalk on the right side of the road, he could see cars in the street to the left of him. On the other side of the street he could see several buildings, most of them either small restaurants or stores. He looked behind him and saw one person coming down the sidewalk from about thirty yards away. Then, looking to his right, he saw a large, white, nondescript warehouse. There was a metallic door just a few feet away from him, a bar in the middle of it that someone who wanted to enter could push in.

"Do you see a warehouse to your right?"

"...yeah."

"And a door just a few steps in front of you?"

Already, Sanza didn't like what was going on. It was likely that that warehouse Slade had mentioned was abandoned, deserted... if he went inside, he'd be all alone... he'd be at Slade's mercy.

"...give me one good reason why I should go in there."

"I'm not going to play this tired little game of threatening your family. You can go into the warehouse or not. I was just hoping that after all this time apart, we could see each other again. That's all I want, to see you again, face to face."

Sanza didn't reply immediately... he looked down, and could see his right leg twitching nervously beneath him. Underneath his white t-shirt, red jacket, and blue jeans, was his Red X costume, his mask and gloves stashed in his jean pockets. He knew that if he needed to, he'd be able to become Red X in the blink of an eye... but he also knew that as smart and as resourceful as Slade was, he could likely stop Sanza from changing in an instant.

"Well? I'm not going to stay here forever, Sanza. And we _will_ see each other again."

"...fine. I'm coming in. But if you try anything-"

"I won't."

O-O-O

A minute later, Sanza entered the main storeroom of the warehouse, having navigated through several long hallways to reach a large, empty area lit only by the sunlight peeking through large windows at the very top, about thirty feet above the ground. The sunlight illuminated most of the room, but a few shadows still remained... and as Sanza made his way toward the center of the room, he knew that Slade was lurking in one of them.

"_He still wants me to be his apprentice..." _thought Sanza, _"so he's probably not going to kill me..."_

That still didn't stop the young man from being nervous as he waited for Slade to emerge. He clenched his fists to stop himself from trembling, and could feel a bead of cold sweat begin to make its way down the right side of his face.

"_This is for mom and Maddy... remember that..."_

Slowly, the sound of footsteps began to make their way to Sanza's ear. He immediately turned, and could see a tall man coming toward him from one of the corners of the room, his features instantly recognizable, even in the dim light. Sanza looked straight into the man's one visible eye... an eye he'd never forget as long as he lived.

For the first time in more than half a year, Sanza was coming face to face with Slade.

"It's been a long time, Sanza," said Slade as casually as he could, not a hint of anger or bitterness in his voice. Sanza's reply, on the other hand, was just the opposite.

"Best seven months of my life," replied Sanza, his voice dripping with hate. Slade smiled under his mask, though the young thief would never be able to see it.

"I understand your anger... last night's little intrusion was the quickest way I knew of to get your attention. From the looks of things, it seems I have it."

"Yeah, you do," replied Sanza, not backing down an inch as he stared into the face of a man he hated more than any other. "And if you ever attack my family again..."

"Now _you're _the one playing tired little games. I thought I implied that it would be best for both of us if we could keep this conversation civil. All I want is to ask you one little favor."

"_One little favor... one little task... it's always one little thing with you, and then another, and another, and soon I'm doing EXACTLY what I said I would never do... I won't take orders from you, Slade!"_

But Sanza couldn't quite muster up the courage to speak those words, trying to let his expression do the talking... but it was clear that that wasn't necessarily going to work. Slade wasn't intimidated in the least by Sanza's angry glare, and Sanza knew it.

"I want you to go down to the local police station, about five blocks east of here. They have an item in their evidence vault, a video tape marked 'Bunker Archive No. 152'. I want you to get that tape and bring it back here to me."

"...you want me... to break into a police station... and steal something from their evidence vault? Are you kidding me? There's gotta be at least fifty cops in there!"

"It shouldn't be any challenge for you. You're Red X, after all. I know you can do it, and I'll be waiting here until you return."

"What makes you think for one second that I'm even going to do this for you?" shouted Sanza, taking a step forward and arching his body so that he was right up in Slade's face, looking him in the eye. Slade remained calm, didn't even move, just glaring at Sanza as he began shouting his inevitable protests.

In the back of his mind, Slade knew that Sanza was going to do exactly as he asked. He didn't have to make any threats, didn't have to give him a time limit, didn't even have to touch him. He knew that Sanza would steal that tape... not just to protect his family, but because it was part of Sanza's nature now. He was a thief... and he liked to steal. Whether it was for himself or for Slade, it didn't matter... Sanza would do exactly as he was told.

O-O-O

And just a few hours later, Precinct 12 had a very unusual visitor.

As two Jump City police officers, stood in the lobby, clad in their standard-issue red, black, and silver uniforms, complete with body armor and face-concealing radio helmet, they could both see Red X entering right through the front door, walking up to the desk at the end of the lobby. Both of them turned toward him, just as he began a conversation with the officer on duty at the desk.

"I've come to turn myself in," said Red X, half-tauntingly.

"...what?!" shouted the confused desk officer. Red X raised his right hand, his palm pointed right at the officer's chest.

"Not."

Immediately, a metallic X flew out of the thief's hand, pinning the officer to the wall. The other two, their guns already pointed at Red X, began to fire, only to have him turn and raise up a glowing red energy shield, causing their laser fire to slam into the shield and dissipate harmlessly into the air. The shield then turned into a flying, impenetrable wall which slammed into the officers and knocked them both to the ground. In less than ten seconds, Red X had taken over the lobby.

"_That was too easy..." _thought Red X, hearing alarm bells already beginning to sound. _"Yeah, I figured THAT would happen."_

Spotting the door on the right side of the desk marked 'Officers Only', the thief dashed to it and knocked it down with an explosive charge, immediately coming face to face with the four officers charging down the hallway to stop him. He leapt into the air, kicking the officer at the front and sending him flying back into his three comrades, two of whom were knocked down, while the last one leapt back and begin firing on the thief. He'd barely gotten three shots off when a long, flexible Xynothium whip came flying toward him, knocking the gun out of his hands on the first lash, and knocking him out on the second. The thief then leapt over the fallen officers, charging down the hallway as quickly as he could.

"_I can already hear them coming for me..." _thought Red X, emerging into the next hallway and seeing shadows of more officers from around the corners to his left and to his right. Several rooms, mostly offices of clerical workers, lined the hallways on both sides, and X had a quick decision to make about which route would lead him to the evidence vault faster.

As he turned to the left, he could hear shots being fired behind him. Several times, X came within a split-second of being hit, and he even had to duck to avoid two of the laser beams, finally making it to the end of the hallway and turning the corner. He ended up plowing right into a group of seven officers, knocking both himself and three of his pursuers to the ground. Before he could stand, he could see several guns pointed at his head and chest.

"Freeze!" shouted one of the officers, his gun leveled right at Red X's skull. "You're that thief that's been on the news the past couple of weeks, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's me," replied Red X, as casually as he could. His reply caused several of the officers to laugh, though some of the laughs were a lot more nervous than others. His reputation had clearly preceded him. "So, are you gonna shoot me, or what?"

"Turn around, on your stomach," instructed another officer, exchanging his gun for a pair of handcuffs. "Hands behind your back."

"All right, all right," replied Red X, slowly turning onto his stomach and placing his hands behind his back, his palms facing upward. This instruction had been exactly what he'd been hoping for. _"Have these guys even been WATCHING me?"_

As the officer bent over to place the cuffs on the captured thief, the other cops kept their guns leveled down at him, just in case he tried anything.

They were right to do so.

"You're under arrest," said the cop, just beginning to place one of the cuffs around X's right wrist. Suddenly, all he could see was red. The thief had fired a sticky X right at the cop's face, plastering one over the eyes of his helmet, and causing the officer's vision to be completely obstructed. He dropped the cuffs and immediately reached up for his face, while the other officers instinctively lifted their guns for a moment to check on their comrade. That moment was all Red X needed.

He stood up, and in that same motion, swept his legs outward, knocking five of the officers to the floor, including the one he'd just blinded. The other two immediately went to shoot the thief, but X knew that they'd never shoot if there was a large chance of accidentally hitting one of their fellow men, and with five officers on the floor next to their target, that chance was certainly large enough to keep them from firing their guns. The two standing cops lunged at X, and they received a kick to the knee and an elbow to the gut respectively, both of them going down and joining the ever-growing pile of fallen officers in the middle of the hallway. As they struggled to get up and begin the pursuit, X had already made it to the end of the hallway, and was turning the corner once more.

"Here it is...!" said the thief to himself, now seeing a door at the end of a very short hallway marked 'Evidence Vault A'. _"Vault A? There's more than one? Ah, dammit... I really hope this is it..."_

Noticing that there was a keypad next to the door, the thief quickly used a spark of electricity to disable the locking mechanism, making it into the vault before the cops pursuing him even had a chance to recollect themselves. As soon as he was inside, he closed the door again, concealing his whereabouts to anyone who hadn't actually seen him go in.

The evidence vault was a long, well-lit room, consisting of eight rows of about six shelves each. On each shelf was about six racks, and on those racks were stacked all kinds of items, from money and drug paraphernalia, to weapons, to letters and notes... and of course, video tapes.

The evidence was sorted by case date, with the most recent items appearing on the shelves toward the front of the vault. With little else to go on, X began searching those shelves first...

"_I have NO idea why Slade wants that tape... and even if I did, I wouldn't have the slightest idea about when it was made, so..." _After quickly clearing the items from the previous week, X began searching the items from two weeks ago... and then items from the last month. It was while searching through these items that he found exactly what he was looking for. Marked with the date seventeen days before was a nondescript black video tape with a yellow post-it note attached, on which 'Bunker Archive No. 152' was marked with dark blue pen. He picked up the tape and stared at it for a moment, almost as if he thought he could somehow view the tape's contents by observing the casing. _"Well... now I've got the tape, so-"_

The sound of electronic beeping alerted the thief to the fact that someone, most likely one of his pursuers, was attempting to enter the room. In just a few seconds, they'd be inside, and X knew that he'd be trapped... and that he would have to fight his way out. Quickly, he walked toward the back of the room, crouching into a fighting position and watching the door, preparing to attack the first person who tried to take him into custody.

It was then, while looking at the numerous shelves stacked in the room, that an idea came into his head... _"If I push over all of these shelves, I can create such a mess that I'll be able to escape without any problem at all!"_

He extended both of his arms outward, preparing to make a large wall of energy that would be sufficient to push over the back six shelves, which would create a domino effect that would send every shelf in the room, and every piece of evidence on every criminal in the precinct, crashing to the ground. A devious smile appeared on Sanza's face, concealed by his mask.

"_Brilliant," _thought Red X happily to himself. _"Absolutely brilliant..."_

But then, another thought crept into his mind. If he knocked over all of the shelves, and the evidence with it, then... it would likely enable hundreds, if not thousands of other criminals to get off scot-free. Murderers, robbers, rapists... with all of the vault's evidence mixed up or otherwise destroyed, the police would be unable to give local prosecutors what they needed to make their cases.

He thought back to a conversation he'd had just a short time ago... a conversation with Starfire about why the Teen Titans allowed those kinds of criminals to roam the streets. He already knew the answer... criminals without superpowers weren't under the Titans' jurisdiction. It was the police's job to put those people in jail... and even a thief like Red X knew that Jump City was a much better place with the city's average, everyday criminals behind bars.

The door to the evidence vault opened.

"_Dammit..." _thought the thief, slowly bringing his hands back toward the center of his chest. _"Guess this'll just have to do...!"_

As an officer entered through the newly-opened door, Red X charged toward him, both of his palms pointed straight at the officer's chest. Before the cop could fire his gun, the thief had fired a single X. In less than a second, the cop found himself pinned up against the wall, his arms above his head and his gun on the floor. Red X smiled and exited the evidence vault, taunting the officer by kicking his gun away, and taunting him a second time by waving the videotape he'd just stolen in the officer's face.

"I got what I came for," said the thief, expecting to hear an angry, smart-aleck comment from the officer he'd just pinned to a wall. Instead, the officer said nothing... but X could see the smile through his visor. Three officers were in the hallway on either side of Red X, their guns pointed at him. Before they could fire, X had fired two explosive charges, sending both small squads of cops flying through the air. X used the distraction he'd created to fire another X, this one at the ceiling, creating an opening through which he could escape. To get to the opening, he ran toward the wall on the opposite side of the pinned officer and kicked up off of it, reaching the hole and climbing up through it just before it re-sealed itself, emerging on the roof of the police station and looking up at the moon, just beginning to appear in the rapidly-darkening sky.

He'd accomplished his task... he had the videotape in his hands, and had made a clean getaway from the police station. Red X had committed his latest heist in a string of robberies, and this time, he'd gone right into the belly of the beast in order to do it.

"_The only thing harder would've been stealing from Titans Tower..."_

And normally, on a mission like this, the thief would've had to worry about the Titans coming to ruin his fun. However, he'd been assured by Slade that the Titans wouldn't be coming... somehow, the criminal mastermind had rendered the police station unable to contact Titans Tower before Red X had even gotten there. How, the thief didn't know... and really, he didn't want to know.

All that mattered was that he'd gotten what he came for... he had done what Slade had asked.

But he knew that it would only get worse from there.

O-O-O

"Excellent, Sanza," said Slade, now holding the videotape in his hands after Red X had unceremoniously presented it to him. "And did you enjoy stealing that for me...?"

Red X didn't respond. Instead, he turned away from Slade and began walking toward the warehouse's exit. He didn't want to say another word... or hear one either.

"This isn't over, Sanza."

"I know."

Red X didn't know when Slade would be contacting him next... what Slade would make him do... but as long as he could keep his family safe, as long as Slade didn't ask to much, he would do what he was told.

But every second of every day, X would be looking for a way to get Slade back. He still had a score to settle with the man who'd threatened and harmed his family... and no matter what, he would make Slade pay.

"Wouldn't you like to see what's on this tape you just stole for me?"

"No," replied Red X, and with that, he was out the door.

O-O-O

A few minutes later, Slade stood in one of the warehouse's office rooms, having found what he was looking for... a television with a VCR. He put the tape into the player and began watching.

Recorded on the tape was about twenty minutes of black and white surveillance footage, taken from a bunker several miles to the east of the city. The footage was taken just a little more than two weeks ago, filmed by security cameras installed inside the bunker which relayed footage to a security station some distance away. After the death of Alex Sedaris at the hands of the Titans, the police had gone out to the security station and had confiscated all the tapes they could find... this particular footage was of particular interest to Slade, because it involved not only his current apprentice hopeful Red X, but his previous apprentice Terra as well.

It was the recording of the moments when Sedaris had forced Beast Boy to choose between a captive Raven and Terra. As Slade watched, he could see the terrified faces of the two captive superheroines inside their glass capsules, their eyes wide, Terra's eyes streaming tears above a duct tape gag.

Because the camera was focused on the capsules, Slade could not see Beast Boy or Sedaris, standing some distance away... but he could hear them, as well as Red X's dramatic, last-second entrance just a short while later.

"You could have just let them die, Sanza..." said Slade to himself, watching as Raven, and then Terra, were freed. "But no... something made you save them..."

Slade paused the tape right as Red X peeled the gag from Terra's face. In that moment, their eyes met, Terra's eyes staring up into those of her savior as she was being freed... as she knew that she was safe. Sanza's eyes were concealed by his mask, but Slade still knew EXACTLY what they were focused on...

"Was it out of the goodness of your heart, or something... else?"

Slade hit 'Play', displaying the rest of the footage as the rescue mission turned into a fight involving Sedaris versus Beast Boy, Red X, and his former captives. But Slade didn't pay much attention to the fight... he'd already seen exactly what he wanted to see.

"_I will be watching you, Sanza."_

O-O-O

Sanza didn't get to bed any later than he had the previous night... he was just as tired from breaking into the police station as he was from fighting the Doom Patrol, despite obviously having two completely different ordeals.

It was all the same to Sanza... another day, another daring thievery. Except this time, there was one notable exception.

"_Slade..."_

Sanza couldn't help but tremble as he thought of not just the name, but of the man himself... his mere presence enough to send chills through young Sanza's spine.

"_I don't know HOW the Teen Titans managed to put up with him as much as they did... he's scarier than any monster... he's my worst nightmare..."_

As Sanza began to doze off to sleep, he heard a loud tapping on his window. Needless to say, he was terrified. Immediately, he sat up in his bed, biting on his blanket to keep from letting out a scream that would almost certainly send his mother rushing up to check on him.

Nervously, he looked back toward his window, his legs turning with his head, so that by the time he saw who was at his window, his legs were dangling off the side of the bed, and his entire body, clad only in a pair of boxer shorts, was completely visible. With this in mind, Sanza saw at his window the one person who, in his current situation, he found even more horrifying than Slade.

He saw Terra.

"Can I come in?" asked a slightly blushing Terra, an innocent smile on her face. Sanza, meanwhile, was trying to cover himself up as best he could, pulling his sheets toward him to conceal his body... this mad scramble caused Terra to giggle, and she turned her head slightly away. "If you want, I can wait until you get dressed..."

Surprised that it was Terra, but instantly relieved that it wasn't a Sladebot, Sanza pulled himself out of bed and walked over to his window.

"_Well, she's already seen me in my underwear... I guess a few more minutes won't hurt..." _

Sanza was blushing as he pulled up to the window to allow Terra inside. She heard the opening window and turned back to face Sanza, their eyes meeting suddenly, their noses just six inches apart. Surprised at this sudden closeness, both Sanza and Terra backed off slightly from one another, Sanza stopping about a foot back from his window, and Terra stopping at the railing of the fire escape.

"If you want, I can stay out here..."

"That's... that's fine," replied Sanza, scooting back toward the window. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Well, I... I mean... _come on, Terra, you can do this... you can talk to him, it's not like he's your boyfriend or anything...!_" Terra blushed even harder, catching another glimpse of Sanza's chest as he got up close to the open window. "The Titans have heard about all the stealing you've been doing lately, and-"

"Oh... _that's _what this is about," said Sanza, a slightly annoyed look appearing on his face. _"Figures they'd finally wise up and try to stop me... but... why just Terra...? _Don't tell me they sent you here to bring me in."

"Actually, I... I just came to talk," Terra replied. "They want to bring you in, but... I told them to give me a chance to talk to you, so... anyway, I don't think you should go around stealing from people anymore, it's wrong, and..."

Terra's voice trailed off. Clearly, as Sanza's expression grew more and more cold, Terra knew that she wasn't anywhere close to getting through to him... maybe the other Titans were right, maybe Sanza _was _a criminal.

But if that was true, that would mean that the Teen Titans, including Terra, would have to fight him in order to bring him to justice... and Terra didn't want that, even for a second.

"And I don't want to fight you, Sanza!"

"...why not?"

"...you know _exactly _why not."

The brief moment of anger and frustration had given way, and in its place came a much calmer, subdued Terra... and when Sanza looked into her flawless blue eyes, he could see something that he'd grown all too familiar seeing from the beautiful blonde geomancer.

He saw sadness... and even a bit of fear.

"Terra, I... I don't want to fight you either..."

"Then you need to _stop_, Sanza, right now! You know that as a Teen Titan, I have to do my duty, and... and even if that means fighting someone I consider a friend, I... I..."

Terra's head slumped, and memories began flooding into her mind once more. Memories of her battles with the Teen Titans, her attempts to kill them... her attempts to kill people whom were once her friends.

At first, they had serious issues with fighting her, but soon, all bets were off, and they attacked her at full strength. They fought her until she feared for her life, and until she was forced to run back to Slade... but even though they were giving their all, and even in her fragile mental state, Terra could see the regret in their eyes as they fought a girl whom they all had considered a friend.

Sanza could sense the hurt in Terra's voice, and he reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. She immediately looked up at him, her eyes wide as she struggled to keep them from filling with tears.

"Look, Terra... I already told you that we all have to choose our own path. Being a thief is what I _want _to do, and as long as I find it fun, I'm going to keep right on doing it."

Sanza was being completely honest with Terra, something which she hadn't entirely expected... she'd come prepared to hear a bogus repentance, which she would leave after hearing... most likely after having tricked herself into believing it.

But instead, she got the truth... a truth that she hadn't wanted to hear, but truth nonetheless... and it was in that truth that she remembered exactly what she liked about Sanza, from the very first day they'd met.

"If that's true, then... you know that you and I will eventually have to fight each other," said Terra, a remark that caused Sanza to immediately turn his back to her. He didn't move an inch, he just turned his head until he could just see her out of the corner of his eye.

"You don't... have to fight me," replied Sanza, a sly smile on his face. Knowing exactly what he meant, Terra gave her own smile.

"I'm not quitting the Titans," said Terra, raising one of her eyebrows while keeping her other eye narrowed, giving her smile a slyness all its own.

"And why is that?"

"Because I _want _to be one of them."

Sanza turned back toward her, looking into Terra's eyes with an almost malevolent gaze. He too raised an eyebrow, and said, "You don't know WHAT you want."

"...of course I do!"

The conversation had long ago become pointless. Both Sanza and Terra could realize that, and both of them knew that there was no way they'd be able to convince the other to change their intentions even the slightest bit. Sanza was still going to be a thief, and Terra was still going to be a Teen Titan. But in the short process of coming to this conclusion, they'd both been scouting each other out, looking for some kind of opening, a vulnerability... in the two weeks since Sanza had last seen Terra, he'd been thinking about her every day... about what she'd said, about their kiss... and Terra had been thinking about the same thing, although her thinking was clouded quite a bit by the fact that she still had a thing for Beast Boy. A very serious thing.

Terra still loved Beast Boy.

"If you're so sure about what you want, then... do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow night?"

Terra let out a gasp. Sanza's offer was completely out of the blue, and upon seeing Terra's reaction, Sanza began to regret making it... but the initial shock soon gave way to curiosity, and then, to consideration.

"I... I just... I'd really like you to meet my mom and sister is all, I think you'd really like them, and-"

"Well... I mean, if I don't have anything to do, I guess I could..."

Terra's blush had returned in full force, the red nearly covering both sides of her face. Sanza breathed a silent sigh of relief, glad that Terra had accepted his offer, though a bit worried about the fact that she was blushing... was it embarrassment, attraction... or maybe a little bit of both?

"I'll ask my mom, I'm sure she won't mind having you over... is six good for you...?"

"Yeah, six is good, I mean, like I said, if something doesn't come up... I _am _a Teen Titan after all."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, duty and everything... but if crazy supervillains don't attack the city, then-"

"Then six it is."

Both of them looked away from one another, Terra blushing moreso than Sanza, though there was some redness on his cheeks as well. Terra's thoughts immediately drifted to Beast Boy, but... this wasn't a _date _with Sanza, it was... it was meeting a friend's family, that wasn't cheating, or anything even close to it!

They turned back to face one another, staring once more into each other's eyes.

"Well... I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," said Terra, slowly backing her head out of the window.

"Yeah..."

Terra paused for a single moment, and Sanza captured the moment perfectly, leaning forward and planted a split-second kiss on Terra's lips. She blinked, then blushed, then giggled... then backed her head out of the window and disappeared as quickly as she'd come.

Slowly, Sanza reached up and pulled down the open window, closing it up tightly. Once the window was closed, he knelt down in front of it for several more seconds, not saying a word, not moving an inch, not even blinking...

He hadn't told Terra anything about Slade. She had no idea that at that moment, Sanza was once again being scouted by Slade as his potential third apprentice.

She didn't know a thing.

And Sanza liked it that way.

O-O-O

And so, the story continues! Slade is back, and it looks like Sanza has plans for tomorrow evening... but this time, they DON'T involve stealing! How long can Sanza keep Slade's plans for him a secret from Terra? And what does the Brotherhood of Evil have up THEIR sleeves? Guess you'll have to stick around to find out!


	3. Meet The Salazars

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

The next afternoon, Terra found herself in a very familiar part of Titans Tower. She was in Beast Boy's room, sitting on the end of the bed with her feet dangling over the edge, slowly kicking back and forth as she and her changeling friend conversed about the events of the previous day.

"So... it's okay if I go eat dinner at Sanza's house tonight?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" asked Beast Boy, smiling as he looked over at Terra from atop a pile of his own dirty clothes. "I mean, it'll keep him from stealing, right?"

"Yeah, but... well, I mean..." Terra couldn't bring herself to mention to Beast Boy that her feelings for Sanza may not be entirely platonic, and she knew that she didn't want to hurt him again... not after betraying him once before. "...you're sure?"

Beast Boy could see the look in Terra's eyes, and could hear the nervousness in her voice... and from that, could imply why Terra was so reluctant to tell him about her dinner plans. But he'd been there before... and in fact, he still _was _there... still had feelings for Raven as strong as the ones he held for Terra, and both girls knew it.

"Terra, it's okay if you... if you _like _Sanza," said Beast Boy, though it was quite clear that he wasn't so sure as he spoke. As guilty as he felt for having feelings for two girls at once, he had to admit that it was just as painful for him to know that Terra might be harboring affections for Sanza... "...you still like _me_, right?"

"Of course I do, Beast Boy!" said Terra, standing up from the bed and walking over to her green friend. "You're the funniest guy I know, and the nicest too..."

With a warm smile on her face, Terra wrapped her arms around Beast Boy, pulling him up into a standing position and embracing him tightly, not letting him go for nearly ten seconds. Beast Boy was comforted by the feeling of Terra's arms around him, and he reciprocated the hug, placing his arms around her body and gently caressing her back until she let him go.

"If you guys get a call while I'm gone, I'll come right back, I promise," said Terra, turning away from Beast Boy and walking toward the front of his room.

"I know, Terra..." Beast Boy replied. "Things have been quiet for the last few days though... except for the Brotherhood of Evil showing up. Robin's been busting his butt trying to find out where they're gonna strike next... I should probably help him."

Beast Boy walked over to Terra and took her hand in his, smiling at her as the two walked together to the door.

"We'll walk together to Robin's room... you can drop me off there... if that's all right with you, Terra."

"Of course it is, Beast Boy," Terra replied, leaning her head softly on his shoulder. They walked out into the hallway together, each of them knowing that they had an important night ahead. Beast Boy needed to help Robin track down the Brotherhood of Evil, and Terra needed to find out exactly what made Sanza tick... because she knew that the closer she got to him, the less chance there would be of the two of them ever fighting each other. _"I just hope his family is friendly..."_

O-O-O

"Sanza, as much as I like knowing who your friends are, you could have asked me before you invited that girl over."

"I know, mom, but... you and I both know you would've said yes."

"That's not the point! ...then again, I guess there's no harm done... you said her name was Terra, correct?"

"That's right."

The Salazars' guest would be arriving any moment, and Maria was putting forth plenty of extra effort to prepare the night's supper, which consisted of a stir fry of vegetables, spices, and meat, served alongside a small portion of boneless steaks, one for each of the four people who would be eating. While Maria was certainly eager to meet Terra, whom her son had told her quite a bit about, the task of having to prepare an extra meal with only a day's advanced knowledge was a bit of an annoyance. She'd just finished mixing up the stir fry, and as she placed it in a large pan that had been set down on one of the burners, she took a quick look in the oven to make sure that the steaks were cooking evenly.

"She's not the vegetarian, right?"

"That's Beast Boy, mom."

While Maria certainly feared a potential attack by Slade or his minions, two days without any such attack had allowed a sense of normalcy to begin to return to the household. Maddy, currently watching television in the living room, was back to her normal, cheery self, while Sanza was still determined to stop Slade from doing any further damage. He was also determined to keep Terra from leaning about Slade's return to prominence... and hoped that he could somehow shield her while at the same time keeping his family safe.

"Mommy, that smells so good..." said Maddy, walking into the kitchen as the smell of cooking food wafted into her nostrils. She looked over at Sanza and sniffed again, then held her nose and waved her hand in front of her face. "Make Sanza leave, he's stinking up the kitchen!"

"That's enough out of both of you," Maria replied, quietly but sternly. Sanza rolled his eyes, knowing that he hadn't even said anything... then gave Maddy an annoyed glare, which she responded to by giggling softly.

"You know you do stink," whispered Maddy. "If you want Terra to be your girlfriend, you should wear some deodorant at least!"

"Who said I wanted Terra to be my girlfriend?" replied Sanza, walking with Maddy toward the open archway that delineated the boundary between the living room and the kitchen. The two stopped in the arch, blocking off the space between the rooms as they continued their conversation. "And I don't stink, I put some deodorant on as soon as I came home from school!"

"Suuuuuuure you did..." said Maddy, "and of _course _you want Terra to be your girlfriend, otherwise you wouldn't have rescued her like you did!"

"...I rescued Raven too, you know."

"Yeah, but that's only because she was _there_. Besides, Beast Boy's the one who actually freed Raven, at least that's what you said when you told me... YOU got Terra free, so that means you're her knight in shining armor! Which I think is really, really sweet."

Before Sanza could reply, there was a light knocking on the window of the kitchen door. When Maria looked outside, she could see Terra's smiling face through the window.

"Hey there... can I come in?" asked Terra, her voice slightly muffled by the door in front of her face. Maria quickly walked from the oven to the door and opened it up, allowing the blonde girl to step inside.

"You must be Terra... come on in, supper's going to be ready in about ten minutes," said Maria cheerfully. As soon as Terra entered, she could see Sanza and Maddy standing just inside the kitchen, both of them smiling at her.

"Hey... Sanza, how's it going?" Terra walked over to Sanza and Maddy, stopping just a few feet away from them, her hands on her hips. "This must be your little sister, right?"

"Yeah, my name's Maddy, and you're Terra... Sanza talks about you all the time."

The smile on Maddy's face was becoming more and more devious with every second, and Sanza could see exactly what his sister was getting at... wanting to cut her off at the pass, he stepped in front of Maddy, blocking her off from Terra's line of sight, and coincidentally putting himself much closer to Terra than he'd been just a second ago.

"She's, um... she thinks you're cool," said Sanza, blushing slightly and moving his body to the left as his younger sister tried to peek around him. "So... did you go after any bad guys today? You know, besides me..."

"Oh, well... things have been pretty hectic the past couple of days, there's this group called the Brotherhood of Evil, and, well... Robin and Beast Boy both have been working really hard to find them."

"The Brotherhood of Evil?" Sanza raised an eyebrow, unfamiliar of the group, and thus unaware of how dangerous they truly were. "Are they like... those six guys who tried to take out the city a couple of weeks ago?"

"Well... sort of," replied Terra, "though... one of them's a woman. We fought her just two days ago."

"So... if there's a woman in the group, why's it called the _Brother_hood?"

"Don't ask me," said Terra, shrugging her shoulders. "All I know is, we gotta take them down."

While Maddy, realizing she obviously was no longer being paid attention to, returned to the living room to watch TV, the conversation continued for several more minutes. The subject matter remained light, pertaining to either the Titans' recent activities, or recent happenings at Sanza's school. Slade's name didn't even come up, as Sanza took great care in steering the discussion away from anything involving the man who'd once terrorized Terra, and now had his sights set on Sanza once more. The light-hearted banter was frequently interrupted by giggles from Terra or chuckles from Sanza, and as Maria took a few seconds to watch the two speak, she realized just how much of an affinity the two had for one another.

"_I don't think they've known each other for even a month, but... they're talking as if they've been friends for years..." _thought Maria, a smile creeping onto her face as she slowly turned back to the oven to tend to the stir fry. _"I remember Sanza and Cleo always talking like that, but... this seems a bit different... they're laughing more, and... they're standing closer together. Almost like Miguel and I did the first time we met..."_

A loud beeping signaled to Maria that the steaks inside the oven were done, and from the look of the stir fry, it seemed finished as well. After dispensing servings to all four places at the table, Maria called Maddy into the room, and gestured for Sanza and Terra to take their seats.

"Oh wow, Mrs. Salazar... this smells so good," said Terra, looking down at the heaping bowl of chopped meat and vegetables in front of her, and the plate of steak to the right of that. She picked up her fork and lowered it toward the bowl, only to have Maddy softly place a hand on hers.

"We're going to say grace..." whispered Maddy, causing Terra's eyes to go wide.

"_Oh man, I've been so rude already...!" _thought Terra, almost in a state of alarm as she set her fork back in its place and quickly turned to Maria. "I'm _so _sorry... I didn't... I mean-"

"It's all right, dear..." said Maria, smiling as she folded her hands in front of her body and bowed her head. Sanza and Maddy quickly did the same, while Terra took out her Titan communicator and pressed a series of buttons, triggering a sequence to block out any incoming calls.

"_I already almost did one really stupid thing... I can't have any calls coming in while we're praying, and... it'll only be thirty seconds, there can't be any harm in that."_

After shutting off her communicator, Terra bowed her head and closed her eyes, folding her hands in front of her chest as Maria began a quick and quiet prayer.

O-O-O

Meanwhile, at Titans Tower, Robin was sitting in his room, typing quickly on a laptop that had been placed on his desk. Beast Boy was sitting on Robin's bed, poring through newspaper clippings for any hint of a recent Brotherhood sighting.

"The only thing that's been reported in the last week is that Madame Rouge attack at the bridge... other than that, nothing."

"Keep looking," said Robin, staring intently into his screen. "We _have _to stop the Brotherhood of Evil... you heard what Mento said, they're four of the world's most dangerous criminals... and I'm not letting them attack this city again. Not on my watch."

Robin's voice was lined with determination... the same determination he'd once shown when hunting down criminals such as Slade or Red X. Beast Boy knew it well... though if Robin thought he was the one on the team that wanted to bring down the Brotherhood of Evil the most, he was _very _mistaken.

"_Don't worry, Mento... I'm not going to let you, or any of the others down... the Titans and I will do everything we can to stop the Brotherhood of Evil, or-"_

Beast Boy's train of thought was interrupted suddenly when a light on the top of Robin's screen began flashing bright red. Immediately, the Boy Wonder stood up and turned to Beast Boy.

"We've got a sighting..." said Robin, stepping out of the way so that Beast Boy could see the screen. There, displayed in black and white on live surveillance footage from somewhere in the city, was a large gorilla running across the street, carrying a large metallic box in his hands. He completely matched the description that Beast Boy had given of one of the Brotherhood's members... and Beast Boy recognized him immediately.

"Mallah..."

"Call Terra back to the Tower, we're going after him right now," said Robin, opening the door to his room to reveal that Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg had been standing behind it for the last few seconds. "Did you see him too?"

"We did..." said Starfire, referring to the uplink that allowed images from Robin's computer to be displayed on the big television screen in the Tower's main room. "He is the Monsieur Mallah, is he not?"

"He is," replied Robin, turning to Beast Boy. "Is Terra coming?"

"I'm not getting any response from her communicator!" replied Beast Boy, holding up his own communicator, on which a blank screen was displayed. A worried look was clearly registered on Beast Boy's face. "I think she turned it off when she got to Sanza's apartment!"

"I can go get her," said Raven, her tone of voice clearly reflecting her annoyance that Terra had her communicator turned off at such an important time. Robin immediately shook his head.

"No... we don't have time, we have to go without her... this could be our only chance to stop the Brotherhood of Evil!" Robin too was annoyed with Terra, and even angry... after all of the trust the team had placed in her, Terra had allowed something personal to trump team business... and important team business at that. "As much as I don't want to do this without Terra, we've taken down plenty of criminals without her before, and we can do it again."

Reluctantly agreeing with Robin, the team followed him out of the room and down the hallway to the elevator... but Beast Boy, staring sadly at his blank communicator, was clearly disappointed that Terra apparently cared more about Sanza than she did about stopping the Brotherhood of Evil.

"_Terra... please, please pick up... we really need you for this one...!"_

O-O-O

A few miles away, Monsieur Mallah had just entered a nondescript, abandoned six-story building... its halls long since darkened by the loss of electrical power, the building would be the perfect place to set up a secret meeting... unless someone showed up to stop him, Mallah knew that this mission would be one of the easiest he'd ever completed.

As soon as he entered the first-floor lobby, he shifted the box in his hands to the space between his left arm and his side, then used his right arm to take out a small, handheld communication device and made contact with his leader.

"Master, I have arrived at the location as planned. I will now be proceeding to the sixth-floor to set up the conference call."

"Good," replied the voice on the other end of the line... an emotionless, mechanical series of noises that could barely be considered speech. The voice belonged to the brilliant, analytical leader of the Brotherhood of Evil, and one of the world's most feared criminal masterminds... The Brain. "I will be awaiting your call to confirm that the equipment has been set up."

"Master, might I state my objections to this alliance... I am not entirely sure that this person that we are going to be working with can be trusted."

"I have calculated the chances of a double-cross, and they work out to 95.775 in our favor. Normally, I would not take such a great risk, but in this case, with this alliance secured, our chances of victory are almost 100. Soon, the city shall be ours, Mallah... and then, the entire world will fall to evil."

"Yes, master..." replied Mallah, still clearly unhappy about the course that was being taken. _"I'm confident that the Brain knows what he's doing, but... as brilliant as he is, I will not easily be able to trust this person who we are about to enter into an alliance with..."_

O-O-O

As soon as Maria had finished saying grace, Terra had started to turn her communicator back on... but she was interrupted by Maddy asking her a question.

"Terra, what's it like to be able to move the earth?"

"Well, it's... it has its ups and downs, I mean..." Terra was reluctant to answer the question at first, knowing that her powers had been both a tremendous blessing and a terrible curse. She started to sugarcoat her answer for Maddy, but as she spoke, she could see a tremendous wisdom in the girl's eyes, and slowly, her answer came closer and closer to the truth, until she began relating a heartfelt lament about what she'd done to the Titans... about why her lack of control led her to betray the team. By the time she'd finished, she was nearly in tears, but Maddy, seated to her right, gave Terra a comforting touch on her cheek, and the smile quickly returned to Terra's face.

"It's okay... no matter what you've done with them, I still think your powers are cool."

From that point on, the conversation was much lighter and happier. Terra shared stories of some of her adventures with the Titans, and Maddy especially found herself as entranced with Terra's adventures as she was with her big brother's. Sanza was entranced as well, but for a different reason... though he knew that in her heart, Terra was intensely kind, he also realized that this girl had been through more than he would _ever _be. Even though Terra had shared very little with him about her life before joining the team, he knew that deep within Terra there was a hurt that had yet to go away... and there was always a slight sadness that tempered her joy, even when speaking of better times.

"Terra, you certainly sound like you've seen a lot..." said Maria, smiling and looking over at her son. "There's a lot you could learn from her, you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know..." Sanza gave an annoyed sigh as he finished the rest of his steak, leaving his bowl of stirfry about a third of the way full. After seeing that he wasn't going to eat the rest of it, and after having finished her own bowl some time ago, Terra felt her stomach rumbling.

"Sanza, could I... have the rest of that?" asked Terra, smiling and licking her lips. Sanza passed her the bowl from across the table, and she quickly finished off the rest of the meal, patting her stomach once she was done. Maria giggled at seeing Terra eat so quickly, a giggle that brought the blonde guest a bit of embarrassment. "Oh... I didn't mean to eat so fast..."

"It's all right," said Maria, getting up from her chair and walking over to the stove. "I've never known anyone who liked my cooking _that _much, even my husband..."

Maria picked up a pan from the stove, filled with the rest of the stir fry that hadn't yet been served out. She scooped all of it into Terra's bowl, refilling it before taking the pan back to the counter and placing it in the sink.

"Oh... thank you...!" said Terra, eagerly starting on her second bowl. As she continued to eat, Maria sat back down and watched her, the smile on her face growing with every second.

"_She's such a kind girl..." _thought Maria, briefly looking over at Sanza before returning her focus to Terra, who had eaten half a bowlful of stir fry in just twenty seconds. _"And Sanza seems to really like her... maybe she's just the person he needs to get him to stop stealing all the time."_

Sanza, meanwhile, had noticed that his mother was getting more and more attached to Terra... which, on one hand, was a good thing... if he was going to start spending more time with Terra, it was great that his family liked her, though ultimately he'd spend time with her no matter what they thought.

But on the other hand, he _certainly _didn't want his mother or his sister mentioning Slade... and he found himself glad that dinner was just about to come to an end. A few minutes later, it did, as the glasses, plates, forks, knives, and bowls were placed in the sink, ready to be washed.

"Sanza, since Terra's your guest, maybe you should help me out with the dishes tonight..." said Maria, though from her tone of voice, it sounded more like an order than a suggestion. Before Sanza could speak, Terra immediately chimed in.

"I'll help you, Mrs. Salazar..." said Terra, walking over to the sink and looking for an apron that she could wear over her clothes. Almost immediately, Sanza walked over to her, feeling guilty that Terra was going to be toiling on the dishes while he was sitting on his butt... as much as he hated doing the dishes, he hated the thought of Terra doing them even more... but she didn't seem to mind.

"Terra, you don't have to-"

"It's okay, Sanza... I want to get to know your mom a little more anyway, if that's okay... you go and watch TV or something, I'll come meet you when we're done."

"...are you sure, Terra?" asked Maria, gesturing toward the kitchen. "_Wheel of Fortune'_s coming on, I think Maddy might like you to watch it with her..."

"That's fine... I would like to talk to Maddy too, but... I think we should probably get started on the dishes, okay?"

Terra, who had already donned a green apron over her black and yellow t-shirt and denim shorts, was _not _going to take no for an answer. With a smile and a sigh, Sanza exited the kitchen and went into the living room to watch TV with his sister.

O-O-O

The Teen Titans, sans their wayward teammate Terra, had entered the lobby of the building that Mallah had just gone into, unaware that he'd beaten them by ten minutes. The lobby was dark, and the growing darkness outside from the rapidly setting sun didn't do much to help. Starfire's glowing hands, however, did.

"I cannot see Mallah... he is most likely above us somewhere," said Starfire, scanning the room with her eyes for any signs of the Brotherhood member.

"He's in here all right," replied Cyborg, checking the scanner built into his arm. "I'm picking up biological signatures from upstairs, but... there's also something in this room."

Cyborg's announcement caused the other four Titans to look all around them, but they didn't see a thing... despite the fact that Cyborg's scanner clearly indicated the presence of life in the room besides the team.

"Let me try," said Raven, closing her eyes and placing a hand on the middle of her forehead. "Azarath, metreon, zin- mmmph!"

A small blob of something silver and glowing had just fallen onto Raven's face, affixing itself to her mouth and sealing her lips shut. After a few seconds of tugging, Raven managed to pry it off, sending the blob of amorphous material flying across the room. It landed on the floor several feet away from the Titans and immediately began to grow, materializing into a faceless, featureless, humanoid form. All five Titans looked up... and realized to their horror that the ceiling above their heads was completely coated in the strange, silver material... which was completely invisible until it had started to glow just moments before.

"Okay... that's _definitely _not Mallah," said Beast Boy, nervously pointing up as the substance began raining down in golfball-sized blobs all around the team. "Look out!"

The Titans all jumped back from the center of the room as the material began falling all around them, collecting and coalescing and growing into faceless humanoids, just as the first blob had done. By the time the rain stopped, twenty such beings had formed, standing around the room and completely surrounding the stunned Teen Titans.

"Everyone, get ready!" shouted Robin, going into a battle stance. "Titans... GO!"

The Titans attacked at the same time as the mysterious silver beings did, creating an instant brawl that filled the entire lobby.

O-O-O

Upstairs, in a small, windowless room on the sixth floor, Mallah was busily setting up for a videoconference, mounting several screens on one of the walls and connecting wires from them to a small, black box nearly, a box that functioned as battery power for the video screens. He could hear the growing sounds of a fight in the lobby, and smiled briefly to himself.

"_Someone's arrived to crash the party... those drones created from Rouge's DNA should slow them down..."_

But then, a frown crossed Mallah's face.

"_But if it's the Teen Titans... or worse, the Doom Patrol... it won't slow them down for long. Perhaps I should go downstairs to make sure that there won't be any trouble."_

O-O-O

Terra knew that washing the dirty dishes piled up after a four-person meal would be a time-consuming process... a process that would give her plenty of time to get to know Sanza's mother... and to find out more about just who Sanza Salazar really was.

But at the moment, it was Maria who was getting the crash course on someone's life... and that someone was Terra.

"So... I guess your family is pretty religious," said Terra as she scrubbed hastily at a juice-stained plate. Maria simply smiled, reaching up and briefly touching the small, golden cross hanging on a necklace above the sink.

"We're Catholic..." replied Maria, returning her attention to the dishes. "Have you ever been to church before?"

"Well, I don't remember ever saying grace before a meal, but... I do remember when I was very little, I went to church service with my parents... but that was back when I still lived in Eastern Europe..." Terra gave a long sigh, thinking that perhaps she said too much. She certainly hadn't told Sanza about her family's heritage, and had mentioned it to the Titans only in passing. "I was too little to understand anything that was going on, but... I do remember being happy."

"...it must have been an Orthodox church," said Maria, placing several forks into the dishwasher before scrubbing the pan she'd baked the stir fry in.

"...is that bad?"

"Dear, there _are _no bad churches," replied Maria with a reassuring smile. "The purpose of religion, or at least, what it's done for me, is to bring a feeling of peace to my heart... a feeling that no matter what's happening, or what I've done, that there's someone up there looking down on me and saying, 'I love you.'"

Maria looked at Terra and could see the growing uneasiness on her face... and began to wonder if she herself had said something wrong.

"I'm... I'm not trying to convert you, you don't have to worry about that, I just... just wanted to let you know what I-"

"No, it's okay, I just..." Terra let out a long sigh and bowed her head, dropping the plate that she was scrubbing into the dishwater-filled sink. In the years since she'd come to America, since she'd started her life of nomadic wandering, she'd found herself lonely many times, and whenever she looked up into the stars, she'd always had a feeling that there was someone looking down at her, guiding her down the path... but there had also been moments of terrible despair... when she'd destroyed a village, when she'd almost gotten someone killed... when she'd turned her back on her friends... and in those moments, she felt more alone than anyone else in the world... that there wasn't a single person looking out for her, let alone a single person that loved her.

Maria watched Terra for several seconds, and when the girl didn't move, she walked around behind her and tenderly placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to re-assure the girl as best she could.

"Whatever you've done, He's already forgiven you... whether you believe in Him or not, there will always be someone that truly loves you."

"...thank you, Maria," said Terra, reaching down into the water and taking the plate back into her hands. She felt Maria's fingers grip her shoulder slightly tighter, and slowly, a smile began to return to her face. _"Whether it's someone up there, or someone right here... I'm glad to have someone who's looking out for me."_

As Maria returned to her place at the sink, Terra quickly shot a brief glance over her shoulder into the living room. There, Sanza was shouting at the television screen, seemingly frustrated that his sister Maddy had beaten him to yet another puzzle solution. She giggled for a moment, warmly smiling at the sight of Sanza's face before returning to her scrubbing.

"_And I'm glad you have someone looking out for you too, Sanza."_

O-O-O

Robin deftly slashed his bo staff through the waist of one of the silver creatures, slicing it cleanly in half. However, within less than a second, it had reformed, the wound across its midsection completely gone. Robin recoiled in surprise, and received a punch to the face for his troubles, sending him quickly to the ground.

"Dude, what are these things MADE of?" shouted Beast Boy, transforming into an octopus and wrapping his tentacles around the humanoid in front of him, only to have it phase right through him and emerge completely unscathed behind his back. Beast Boy quickly turned into a tyrannosaurus, chomping down on the creature's head... and again, it reformed, headbutting Beast Boy in the snout and causing him to let out a roar of pain.

"Guys, brute force doesn't work on these things!" shouted Cyborg, using his energy cannon to blow a hole in the chest of one of the enemies. The hole did not refill, and the mysterious silver creature fell to the ground, dissolving in a puddle of ooze. "You gotta use energy attacks on 'em!"

"That works for _you_, but what about ME?" shouted Beast Boy, having detransformed just a few seconds earlier. He now found himself dodging a series of vicious kicks and punches from three of the creatures, and would've been pummeled had it not been for Raven, blasting all three of Beast Boy's assailants with a dark energy sphere that caused them all to fade into mist. "Thanks, Raven!"

Raven now stood back to back with Starfire in the middle of the room. The two girls were firing energy blasts at the rate of nearly a dozen per second, and putting the silver creatures on the defensive, forcing them to dodge the blasts instead of launching an attack of their own.

"They're adapting to our attacks!" Raven shouted. "They're dodging too quickly for me to hit them!"

Raven parted from Starfire and charged into a crowd of the creatures, preparing to fire a blast to finish several of them off. Before she could, two of the creatures grabbed her left arm, and two more grabbed her right. They began tugging on her in opposite directions, causing a painful straining feeling that forced a cry of pain from the defenseless half-demoness. Beast Boy let out a gasp and ran to Raven's aid, only to have her be thrown at him by the four creatures, causing them both to land in a tangled heap on the ground. Starfire flew over both of their heads and blasted her eye lasers across the creatures' heads, causing them all to burst in a violent, gooey explosion that nearly knocked Starfire to the ground.

"Is that all of 'em?" asked Cyborg, holding up his energy cannon in a ready position. He looked into a shadowy corner of the room, where he saw a bright flash... and then Robin, emerging from the corner covered in what remained of the last two of Mallah's Rouge clones. "I guess you just answered my question..."

"We don't have much time," said Robin, looking toward the center of the room to see Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven picking themselves up. "We need to get upstairs, Mallah's got to be in here somewhere."

The other Titans nodded in agreement, and followed Robin through a metallic door on the far side of the room. The door led to a long flight of stairs, and the Titans quickly made their way up, past the second floor, and then past the third... but when they got to the fourth, they suddenly heard a loud noise, coming from just past the door leading back into the main part of the building.

"Is that him...?" Starfire asked, her hands beginning to glow. The door was solid metal, no windows, so it was impossible to see what was inside... but a quick look at Cyborg's scanner confirmed that there was something on the other side of the door.

"It's him all right..." said Beast Boy, clenching his fists and staring right at the door handle. "Mallah..."

Robin pushed the door open, and he and the other Titans emerged into a long, dark hallway, lined with several windows, some of them broken. Glass littered the tile floor, and upon closer inspection, it could be seen that several of the tiles were missing, some of them upturned and scattered around the hallway.

At the end of the hallway was a large, dark silhouette... and all of the Titans knew exactly who it belonged to.

"Mallah!" shouted Beast Boy, staring straight across the hall into the brilliant gorilla's piercing eyes. "What are you and the Brotherhood of Evil up to?"

"Ah, young, ignorant Garfield... you haven't changed a bit," said Mallah, his sharp teeth showing as his lips curved into a smile. "And you brought some new friends... I'll deal with them just like I used to deal with you."

And as Mallah charged down the hallway toward the Titans, the ground began to shake beneath their feet.

O-O-O

As Terra stepped into Maddy's room, she let out a gasp, her eyes immediately transfixed on the mural that was pained on the young girl's wall.

"_The sky... the stars... this looks a lot like the wallpaper in my room..." _thought Terra, mentally tracing the contours of the beautiful Mexico City skyline that was depicted above Maddy's bed. _"Except for that... I think I recognize that city from somewhere..."_

"It's really pretty, huh?" asked Maddy, seated Indian-style on her bed and smiling brightly at Terra. "My cousin painted it for me a few years ago after my mom bought the top floor of this building and me and my brother got our own rooms. Do you know what that is?"

"It's... Mexico City, I think," said Terra, walking over to Maddy's bed and sitting down next to her. Terra had originally planned to spend time with Sanza after finishing the dishes, but Maddy had gotten the urge to show Terra her room, and Sanza graciously agreed, opting to keep watching television until Maddy was finished. "I've been there a couple of times..."

"Did you drink the water?" asked Maddy, giggling slightly. "When I went there a few years ago, I almost did, but mom stopped me... then Sanza slipped some of the water into a bottle of Coke I bought, and... well..."

Terra thought for a moment about what Maddy had said, and then when she realized what Maddy had meant, a look of slight disgust crossed her face.

"That sounds kind of mean," said Terra. "I might have to go talk to him about that..."

Maddy giggled again, shaking her head.

"No, I already got him back... I put a scorpion in his shoe, and he was limping the rest of the trip... when I look back on it, I think what I did _might _have been slightly meaner than what Sanza did..."

"I... I thought you two got along great," said Terra, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Oh, sometimes we do, but... c'mon, siblings fight all the time! Still, I do love my big brother... he's really brave, and when he wants to be, he can be the nicest person in the world... even if I know he fights you guys a lot."

"Well... I've never fought Sanza before... at least, consciously," said Terra, bowing her head as she remembered what she'd done under the control of the Crisis Crystal. "...your brother's saved me twice, do you know that?"

"All I know is about that one time he saved you and Raven. He saved my mom and me too... he's saved a LOT of people actually..."

Terra could see a proud smile forming on Maddy's face, and knew that while the two did have the occasional fight, that their bond was unbreakable, and it was obvious that Sanza being Red X only made Maddy even more devoted to him. It was her, after all, that had been the reason that Sanza stole the suit in the first place.

"So... what do you think about me...?" asked Terra, a bit nervously.

"Oh, you're really nice too... I mean, you must be, for Sanza to like you so much... he likes you even more than Starfire, and she's _really _nice."

A deep blush formed on Terra's face. She'd heard all about Sanza's little crush on Starfire from the Tamaranian herself... could it be possible that Sanza's affections for Terra were even greater?

As she pondered the matter, she could hear Maddy laughing louder and louder... and knew exactly what had the girl so amused. She looked toward the mirror mounted just above Maddy's desk, and could see that her entire face was glowing a bright shade of red. She bowed her head in her hands to try to hide it, but it was much too late.

"Aw, come on, don't be embarrassed!" said Maddy, gently pulling Terra's head back up. Terra's blush subsided a bit, but was still prominent as Maddy continued to speak to her. "You can tell me if you like him... I promise, I'll keep it a secret, just between us girls!"

"W...well, I mean... Sanza's my friend, but... I... I sort of have a thing for Beast Boy..."

"Awwww... you're lying," said Maddy, crawling around behind Terra. "And I know _just _how to punish liars!"

Maddy wrapped her arms around Terra's midsection, and showing surprising strength for a twelve-year-old girl, pulled the blonde Titan down with her onto the bed. Before Terra could protest, Maddy's fingers were furiously working Terra's ribs, sending the blue-eyed girl into fits of hysterical laughter. She began to struggle, which only managed to get Maddy to wrap her legs around Terra from behind, pinning her waist and upper legs in place as the tickling got faster and harder.

"Hahahaha... stop it, stop!!!" shouted Terra, though it wasn't a very angry shout... Terra was having fun, and Maddy could sense it, tickling Terra even harder.

"I do this to my brother all the time, but you're _way _more ticklish than he is!" Maddy's fingers gravitated downward to Terra's midriff, exposed by her t-shirt and leaving her belly button wide open. This was where Maddy tickled next, drawing even more laughter from Terra, until tears were starting to roll down the girl's cheeks.

"_I gotta get out of this somehow...!" _thought Terra, intensifying her struggles until after about twenty seconds, she wrenched herself free and immediately turned over, pinning Maddy beneath her. "Now the tables are turned..."

And then, Terra launched into a tickle storm of her own, her fingers dancing across Maddy's stomach, still vulnerable despite behind covered by her cotton t-shirt. She then moved up to Maddy's armpits, which send the girl into fits of laughter even louder than what Terra had been emitting just moments ago. This tickle war continued for five minutes, with neither girl getting the upper hand, until suddenly, the door opened, and Sanza stepped inside. Immediately the tickling stopped, and the two girls sat up, still giggling slightly, their faces bright red. Sanza knew exactly what they'd been doing, and gave a chuckle of his own.

"Looks like you're managing to have fun without me," Sanza said jokingly, smirking at Terra before giving his sister a look of mock annoyance.

"Your sister's awesome!" said Terra, still laughing as she pointed her finger at Maddy. "I've never had that much fun with anyone before, except maybe Beast Boy..."

"Did you guys tickle each other too?" asked Maddy, a look of innocent curiosity on her face. Terra gave a quick nod, causing Maddy to reply with a equally quick "Neato!"

"Well, Terra... when you guys are done, I'll be up on the roof, so..."

"I'll be up there soon, Sanza, I promise!" replied Terra, still giggling as Sanza quietly shut the door behind him. As soon as he left, Terra looked over at Maddy, who was smiling happily, obviously glad that her brother was gone so that she could resume her conversation with his fun new friend. "You wanna hear about one of the times he tickled me?"

"First tell me about when _you _tickled _him_," replied Maddy.

"Okay."

O-O-O

Robin was the first of the Teen Titans to reach Mallah, ducking under a punch thrown by the gorilla before extending his bo staff and slamming it hard into Mallah's gut. Mallah simply smiled, his hard skin easily absorbing the powerful blow.

"I don't think that's going to work," said Mallah, swatting Robin across the chest and sending him flying toward the rest of his team. Starfire quickly caught him, saving both Robin and the other Titans from a hard blow, while Beast Boy transformed into a rhinoceros and ran headlong into Mallah, knocking him back a good distance across the hallway. With a loud grunt, Mallah placed his hands on Beast Boy's horn and dug his feet into the ground, slowing bringing the charging green rhino to a stop.

"_I don't believe it, he's gotten stronger...!" _thought Beast Boy, just before Mallah struck him between the eyes with an incredibly powerful punch. The punch caused Beast Boy to detransform immediately, and he hit the ground hard on his back, dazed and nearly unconscious.

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!" shouted Raven, taking control of every shard of broken glass in the hallway and flinging it toward Mallah at dangerous speeds. Seeing that he couldn't dodge the glass, he quickly lifted up Beast Boy, using the changeling as a shield. Raven gasped in horror, stopping the glass just a split-second away from hitting her friend. _"BEAST BOY!"_

Mallah let out a loud laugh as the glass fell harmlessly to the ground, then tossed Beast Boy at Raven and Cyborg, knocking them both away. Several Starbolts came flying toward him, but he easily leapt out of the path of those, and saw Robin charging toward him again just in time to duck away from another swing of his bo staff.

"You... won't... get... away!" shouted Robin furiously, swinging his staff once for every word he said. Mallah dodged three of the swings and blocked the fourth with his right arm. Thinking he had Robin beaten, he raised his left arm and launched a powerful punch at the Boy Wonder's face, only to have Starfire grab him by the wrist at the last second.

"You are a very bad monkey!" shouted Starfire, lifting Mallah into the air and throwing him all the way to the end of the hall. Mallah landed on his back, bounced once, and hit the far wall, making in it a gorilla-shaped dent. When he looked up, he could see all of the Titans running toward him again, and realized that he might be just a bit outmatched.

"_I must flee," _thought Mallah, turning to his left and making a break for it, running down another long hallway at top speed. As he ran, his weight shook the building, dislodging pieces of plaster from the ceiling that fell on the Titans as they tried to give pursuit.

"Ow, dude!" shouted Beast Boy, wiping small chunks of plaster from his hair as he and the other Titans ran down the hallway. "That really hurt, and I'm gonna have this stuff in my hair for weeks!"

"Look on the bright side," replied Raven in a monotone voice. "You could be having Red X's gunk in your hair again."

The mention of Red X reminded Beast Boy of Terra, still doing who-knows what at Sanza's house with her communicator turned off. The blonde geomancer would have certainly been a big help, but for the moment, the five original Titans would be on their own... though Beast Boy still couldn't help but worry.

"He just went in there!" shouted Robin, breaking Beast Boy out of his thoughts with the announcement that Mallah had just ducked into a side room. Without any hesitation, the Titans followed him inside... but when they opened the door, they found nothing... nothing except for a wooden door on the right-side wall. "He's in the closet, open it up!"

Raven was closest to the door, and so she was the one who walked over and threw open the closet door. She saw no immediate signs of Mallah inside... but it was a tall closet, and thus, she knew that he had to be clinging from something above her head.

By the time she looked up, Mallah had already descended on her. He landed right on top of her, knocking her to the ground and forcing all of the wind out of her chest... then quickly reached down and grabbed her, holding her to him with one arm around her chest, and the other pressed against her throat.

"RAVEN!" shouted Beast Boy, angrily clenching his fists.

"Let her go!" Cyborg yelled, pointing his energy cannon right at Mallah's head. "I mean it...!"

Mallah simply gave a loud, gutteral laugh, his powerful arms wrapping even tighter around Raven. The arm around her chest kept her own arms completely pinned, while the arm around her neck prevented all breathing, or even any attempts to speak. Her eyes went wide, and a quiet, gasping cough escaped her lips... another gasp, and it was suddenly very clear that Raven was running out of air.

"LET HER GO!" screamed Starfire, her eyes glowing bright green. Mallah did not comply.

"Any tighter and her neck will break..." said Mallah coldly, forcing another loud gasp from Raven's lips. "I suggest that you all leave the room... I have important business to take care of."

As the horrified Titans tried to figure out a way to free Raven from Mallah's grasp, Raven too was thinking... her intense fear was causing her to lose focus, and without the ability to chant, that focus would be very hard to regain... her eye gazed upward, and directly overhead she could see a rusty, metallic bar... it was apparently what Mallah had been hanging from when Raven had entered the closet, and if it was strong enough to hold _his _weight, it could definitely do some damage.

"_If I can concentrate, I can loosen that bar and hit him with it, but... if I mess up, it'll go right through my head..."_

Mallah was focused too much on the Titans to notice that Raven had seen the bar, and the Titans were too scared about Raven to realize that she was trying to free herself.

"Well? Are you going to leave, or will I have to break your friend?"

"Come on... if you want a hostage, take ME!" shouted Beast Boy, stepping up and offering himself to Mallah. He could see the sweat running down Raven's face, and could see her hands and legs trembling violently... and her fear made him determined to save her. "I'm a member of the Doom Patrol, remember? You can use me to get them!"

"...this is very intriguing," said Mallah, his lips displaying a toothy grin. "Go on..."

But Beast Boy never got the chance, because the next sound out of Mallah's mouth was a roar of agony, caused by the end of the metallic bar impaling his left shoulder. He instantly released his grip on Raven, who fell into Beast Boy's arms, gasping violently for breath.

"Raven, are you..."

"_Beast Boy... we have to strike him now...!" _Raven conveyed her message to Beast Boy telepathically, lacking the air required to speak. As Beast Boy helped Raven get back to her feet, an enraged Mallah pulled the bar out of his shoulder, a narrow stream of blood now dripping down the side of his arm. He let out another roar and swung the bar at Beast Boy and Raven. Beast Boy screamed, while Raven put out her hand, creating as strong of an energy barrier as she could. The bar slammed into the barrier, cracking but not breaking it, and before Mallah could take another swing, a blast from Cyborg's energy cannon knocked the bar out of Mallah's hands.

"Titans, we need to find out what Mallah's up to, and he's in no shape to be interrogated now!" shouted Robin. "We have to fight him until he gives up... Titans, G-"

Robin's orders were cut off by the charge of an angry Mallah, who plowed through the Titans and ran, roaring, out of the room, peeling off down the hallway in an effort to calm himself down.

"_Those damned... damned Teen Titans!" _thought Mallah, slamming his fist into a wall on his way back to the emergency stairs. _"I have to forget about them and concentrate on my mission... the conference call is in less than a minute!"_

The Titans again chased after Mallah, who had managed to stop roaring by the time he reached the stairs. They saw him enter the stairwell and immediately followed him, keeping back just enough to make him think that he'd left them behind.

"He is heading to the top floor," Starfire said, following Robin and the others up the remaining flights of stairs to the sixth floor of the building. Raven, still sore and winded from Mallah's earlier attack, was being helped up the stairs by Cyborg and Beast Boy, which slowed the Titans down... not that it was any matter. They knew Mallah was heading for the top floor, and at any rate, they need to stay far enough behind him to make him think that he wasn't being followed.

"Raven... are you okay?" asked Beast Boy again, noticing the purple bruise that had formed on Raven's neck.

"Yes, I'm fine..."

"That was really cool what you did... if it hadn't been for you..."

"Beast Boy," said Raven, in as serious a voice as she could, "don't _ever _trade yourself for me, got it? You're valuable to the Titans AND the Doom Patrol, and if anything happens to you, the Brotherhood of Evil will have all the leverage they need."

"...but Raven, I..." Beast Boy bowed his head, knowing in his heart that Raven was right. _"If Mento knew I was about to trade myself for Raven's safety, he'd chew me out for an hour, at LEAST... but... while I might be valuable to the Titans and the Doom Patrol, Raven's valuable to me... and I'd gladly sacrifice myself to save her."_

O-O-O

Sanza sat on the roof of his apartment building, looking up at the now-darkened sky. Very few stars were visible, and those that were were very dim... their lights overwhelmed by those of the Jump City skyline.

"_I'm glad my family likes Terra... and from the looks of it, she likes them too..." _thought Sanza, saying a silent prayer of thanks that the night had gone so well. _"Maybe... maybe Terra really is... I mean, she's still with Beast Boy, but..."_

A cool breeze gently blew past Sanza's face, causing him to pull his arms into his chest. He began rocking softly as the wind whipped past him, chilling his skin and causing goosebumps to appear on his exposed arms. Once the breeze had passed, he lowered his hands to his pockets, putting four of his fingers in each one and leaving his thumbs exposed. He continued to think... about Terra, about Beast Boy... and about Slade, whom Sanza knew he'd see again... and very soon at that.

"_I have to protect Terra from Slade... I won't let what happened to Cleo happen to her. I don't care if she still loves Beast Boy, I'll protect Terra just like I would've protected Starfire."_

Sometimes Red X was a hero... and sometimes, Red X was a thief... but when Sanza had taken the suit, he had a different mission entirely... Red X was to be a protector.

Again, Sanza could hear footsteps on the roof behind him... he turned his head and could see Terra walking over, a smile on her face. Without a word, she sat down next to Sanza and looked out across the city to the downtown skyline.

"You have a really nice view from up here," said Terra, resting her head on her knees. "I mean, you're so much closer to these buildings than the Tower is, so..."

"Yeah, but you can see the stars a whole lot better," said Sanza. "After seventeen years, I've gotten tired of all these buildings."

Terra looked curiously into Sanza's eyes, a question suddenly popping into her mind.

"You've lived in this apartment your whole life?"

"Yeah... ever since I was born. My dad, my mom, me, and later Maddy... we lived on the second floor. This building's stacked up like three small houses, each floor has a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. It was pretty cramped, even for someone as little as me... then my dad died, and a few years after that, mom got promoted to middle management, right at the same time that the owner of the building wanted to sell some of it off. Mom took out a mortgage and bought out the top two floors, she had the third-floor kitchen converted into a laundry room and built a staircase between the floors. She sleeps downstairs, me and my sis have our own room upstairs. It's still kinda cramped, but it's a nice place considering..."

The faint sounds of gunfire could be heard off in the distance. Sanza heaved a long, heavy sigh.

"Still kinda the bad part of town though," he said, looking at Terra and smiling. "But it's still home."

"_You're so lucky to have a home for all this time..." _thought Terra, knowing that most of her life had been spend wandering from town to town... it had only been in the past few weeks after she'd been revived that she had a home at Titans Tower, and still she didn't know whether or not she truly belonged there. "It must be really nice..."

Sanza immediately detected the sadness in Terra's voice, and he reached over and took her hand in his. His hand, having been out in the cold for nearly twenty minutes, was much cooler than Terra's, and she gripped his hand tightly, trying to warm it up.

"Terra, I know you've had a rough life-"

"Stop, Sanza... I don't want you to feel sorry for me..."

But what could he do? As kind as Terra knew he was, he _had _to feel sorry for her... what else was he supposed to feel? She let out another sigh, wondering exactly how she _wanted _Sanza to feel... then realized that he was Sanza, and he would feel however he wanted. She couldn't stop him from feeling sorry for her... but maybe she could change the subject.

"...I mean, you lost your dad when you were young, so..."

"It's been ten years... I miss him every day, but... what about your parents, Terra?"

"It's... a really long story."

Terra's hand gripped Sanza's even tighter as another cool breeze blew past them both... as sad as both of them were feeling, they couldn't help but feel incredible comfort, not just because it was a wonderful night, but... because they were with each other, and for some reason, Terra found herself less and less sad with every second that went by.

"Thank you, Sanza... for tonight, I mean."

"Terra, thank you for coming over... I'm glad you like my family.

"I love your family, your mom is so nice, and your sister is so much fun... I can't believe Slade ever would've gone after the three of you... but... he's pure evil, so..."

Sanza could feel Terra's hand beginning to tremble against his, and his fingers gripped tightly around it, almost to the point of causing Terra pain... for a split-second, he began to wonder if he'd slipped up somehow, if Terra knew that right at this moment, Slade was coming after him...

But then he remembered that he'd told Terra before about Slade's previous attacks on his family, several months before. He breathed a silent sigh of relief, and quickly tried to lighten the mood of the conversation.

"It's all right, they're both fine now... Maddy especially, she may seem like someone who would be traumatized really easily, but... she's so strong, I'm really proud of her..."

The smile returned to Terra's face, and she gave a quiet nod. By now, Sanza and Terra were no longer looking out at the skyline, but at each other, their faces and bodies turned so that their eyes were facing the other's at a distance of less than three feet... and slowly beginning to close.

"Sanza..." said Terra quietly, stopping her advance for a few seconds and taking his other hand into her own. "thank you so much for everything..."

"Any time, Terra... you can come over any... time... you want..."

Their eyes closed, and their lips moved closer and closer together, until they were just an inch apart... and then, Terra stopped. She opened her eyes and slowly pulled away, bowing her head and releasing her grip on Sanza's hands.

"This... this isn't right," said Terra, her hands once more beginning to tremble. "I told Beast Boy... I told him, I-"

"Terra, I understand," said Sanza, leaning forward and placing a hand on Terra's shoulder. "I told you, if you ever wanted someone to talk to... if you don't want this to be anything more, I understand. _Damn, damn, damn...!!!_"

"It's not... I mean, it's not you, it's-"

"You?"

Terra giggled and shook her head.

"I have to figure this out, I'm all mixed up, and..."

Terra stood up and slowly climbed down from the edge of the roof, onto the top of the fire escape. She reached up and gently took Sanza's hand, helping him down as well. She was smiling, but... it was a sad smile, and Sanza could tell exactly what Terra was sad smiling about.

"_She does like me, but..." _Sanza smiled to himself, looking down at the ground and shaking his head. _"I'd better make it a point to stay away from all explosive shackles and glass capsules for a while until Terra gets her head sorted out."_

"Sanza... you know how I told you about the Brotherhood of Evil?"

"Yeah... what about 'em?"

"I know you don't like playing the hero, but... if you could help us fight them..."

Sanza leaned back against the railing of the fire escape, staring up at the sky yet again. _"Oh no... I've got _enough _to worry about without getting involved with the Titans again. If I work with them, then pretty soon they'll find out about Slade, and-"_

"Please, Sanza... it would really be a big help..."

Sanza could see the pleading look in Terra's eyes, and slowly found himself being pulled into accepting yet _another _alliance with the team.

If he teamed up with them again, he _would _get to see Terra more... but the more time he spent with the Titans, the harder it would be to keep Slade away from them... and away from Terra.

"I'll think about it," said Sanza, which at that point, was about the only answer he _could _give. He left the possibility of helping them open, which would hopefully keep Terra happy, without binding himself to any sort of agreement. Not only was it the _only _answer, it was the _perfect _answer.

And it left Terra satisfied, which was all that Sanza could've asked for.

"Thanks again," said Terra, lifting up a chunk of concrete and levitating it up to the level of the fire escape. She gave Sanza a friendly hug, then hopped onto the concrete and began riding back toward Titans Tower, her communicator still as unresponsive as it had been since the moment she turned it off.

Sanza watched Terra until she disappeared into the night, glad that she'd had a good time and that she liked his family, but regretful that she was still having hang-ups about any sort of one-on-one relationship.

"_But... after tonight, there's one thing I know for sure... I think I'm falling in love with Terra."_

O-O-O

By the time Mallah had reached the top floor, he'd forgotten all about the Teen Titans... he was far too concerned with finishing his work before the conference call was scheduled to begin. He finished the connections just in time, and was standing at attention when The Brain, Madame Rouge, and General Immortus all phoned in.

The Titans, on the other hand, had _not _forgotten about Mallah... and were now just outside the room where he'd set up his screens, watching in on him from their relatively safe vantage-point beside the door. When Starfire saw three of the screens light up, she let out a gasp, but Robin's gloved hand went over her mouth before she could make a sound loud enough to alert Mallah or any of the others to the Titans' presence.

"Shhhhhh!" all of the Titans whispered loudly, causing Starfire to let out a muffled apology from behind Robin's hand.

"Excellent work, Mallah," said the Brain. "The final caller will be reporting in shortly..."

"I'm still not sure we can trust this person," replied Mallah. "He has a long history of double-crosses, and I know that the consequences of his betrayal would be disastrous for our plans."

"I agree with Mallah's objections," said Madame Rouge, a very skeptical look on her face. "We have absolutely no guarantee that he will continue to work with us once we have taken over the city."

"We won't need him to!" said General Immortus, his wrinkled face providing few hints that he possessed a tremendous wisdom, and millennia of combat experience. "Once we have seized the city, we will be completely unstoppable, and no one will be able to stand against us!"

"But this is no ordinary man that we're talking about here," said Madame Rouge. "This is-"

She was suddenly interrupted by the activation of the fourth screen. The Titans watched in silent anticipation as they wondered who the Brotherhood's new member could possibly be.

The screen displayed the face of a handsome, well-groomed man in his mid-thirties. Robin recognized him immediately.

"That's Derek Voscoti!" whispered Robin. _"He's the man who owned the security company that Sedaris used to work for... what's _he _doing in the Brotherhood of Evil?"_

"Ah, our contact," said Mallah, in a highly cordial tone. "How are you this evening?"

"I'm doing pretty well... is Madame Rouge here too?"

"I'm right here, Derek," said Madame Rouge from the screen second to the left, in a _very _annoyed tone of voice. "Cut the crap, this isn't a social call."

"I know, I know... but from what I can see in my camera, you're still as beautiful as ever."

"Enough. Voscoti, where is the man you promised us?"

"Ah yes, the unholy alliance of the Brotherhood of Evil and one of Jump City's baddest. Don't worry, I've got him on the other line... do you want me to patch him through?"

"Voscoti's not the guy...?!" whispered Robin, obviously surprised by this turn of events.

"But if it's not him," replied Cyborg, "then who...?"

"Yes, Derek," said Madame Rouge, clearly impatient. "Patch him through. Now."

Voscoti's face then disappeared from the fourth screen... and in its place appeared a face that _all _the Titans knew.

"Good evening," came the chilling voice of Slade, accompanied by his image on the fourth monitor. "I've prepared my half of the plan for the takeover of Jump City... but first, I'd like to hear yours."

The Titans watched wide-eyed in silent terror as their worst nightmare suddenly became a reality.

The Brotherhood of Evil had formed an alliance with Slade.

O-O-O

And things suddenly went from bad... to WAY bad. Not only that, but Terra still has no idea what's going on...and all that while dealing with her feelings for both Sanza and Beast Boy! Business is about to seriously pick up, but to see it, you'll have to stick around for the next chapter!


	4. Perilous Priorities

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

"_I can't believe it..." _thought Robin, peering into the room and seeing the face of Slade on one of the monitors. _"My worst enemy... teaming up with these international criminals... Slade has NEVER worked well with others, even his apprentices..."_

Even when he was working with Trigon, Slade was always looking for a way to bring his so-called master down after he got what he wanted out of the deal. Now, it seemed, Slade had forged yet another deal... and Robin and the others knew that they had to find out exactly what Slade wanted before they interrupted the proceedings.

"Our plan is simple," said the Brain, addressing the other three members of the Brotherhood, as well as their new partner. "Jump City will become the center of our worldwide operation... but we must first ensure the security of that operation, and we will accomplish that by destroying all of the young heroes in the world who will inevitably try to stop us."

"This includes the Teen Titans," said Slade, inferring the next part of the Brotherhood's plan. The Brain continued.

"The Teen Titans are perhaps our most dangerous threat, but there are other groups of heroes scattered throughout the world that also need to be taken care of," said the Brain. "We will accomplish this by amassing the world's largest gathering of criminals and villains, and creating a disturbance so large that the Titans will be forced to call out to the world's heroes for assistance. Once all of the heroes arrive in Jump City, the battle will begin."

The Titans listened from their hiding spot, unable to believe what they were hearing. The Brotherhood of Evil had plans for world conquest... and those plans started right in the middle of their beloved city.

"If he thinks we'll need to call on other heroes for help, he's crazy," said Cyborg as quietly as he could. "We're the Teen Titans, we can handle anything."

Robin nodded in silent agreement... and Starfire nodded as well. But Raven wasn't quite so optimistic, and she began to ponder exactly what the Brotherhood's plan meant.

"_If they plan to gather all of our enemies in one place, the numerical disadvantage may be too great for us to overcome... and if that's the case, then we'll have no choice but to summon help... and lead other heroes right into the Brotherhood's trap."_

And Raven's worry was only increased by the next part of the conversation.

"I won't need any help to take out the Titans," said Slade coldly. "I will deal with them... I'll leave the rest of the heroes up to you."

"This s_ounds _like a good plan," replied Madame Rouge, her voice lined with skepticism. "But what makes you so sure that you can handle the Teen Titans on your own? It may require dozens of their enemies just to force them to call for help... are you saying that you by yourself can actually defeat them?"

"Slade has a great deal of experience dealing with this city's superhero team," said the Brain. "However, it is true that every time he has faced them, he has met defeat... I would like to hear Slade's plan for eliminating them this time."

"I have an ace in the hole," said Slade, "a new apprentice... with skills specifically designed to take the Titans down. There may be a few issues left to work out with him, but I assure you... once he is under my control, he will be as loyal to me as I am to all of you... and he will help me bring the Titans to their knees."

"_A new apprentice...?" _thought Robin, his eyes wide. _"He can't mean..."_

All four of the other Titans were already thinking exactly what their leader was... and Starfire was especially distressed to be thinking it.

"_No, Sanza... it cannot be you...!"_

"I remain unsure of your loyalties, Slade," said Mallah, making no attempt to conceal his unease with the Brotherhood's new alliance. "I'm confident in your ability to handle the Teen Titans, but once we've taken control of the city, what will you do then?"

"I would like to have this city for myself... but I am willing to share with you the complex task of world domination. I'm a very simple man... I really can't be bothered with running the affairs of an entire planet."

Slade's honesty, his revelation that he _did _in fact want sole control of Jump City, brought Mallah a bit of relief... a deceptive response would have almost completely convinced him that Slade would attempt to betray the Brotherhood. But control over one city, at least once its purpose had been fulfilled, was a small price to pay for not having to deal with the unenviable task of battling the Teen Titans. The Brain seemed to agree.

"Once we have destroyed the world's young heroes, the city is yours," said the Brain. "But you must uphold your end of the deal... I will leave the Teen Titans completely up to you."

"I will annihilate them."

By now, Robin had seen and heard enough. He knew exactly what the Brotherhood and Slade were planning, and one didn't have to be a brilliant detective to know that the evil alliance's plans weren't good. They'd deal with the matter of Red X later, but this conference was about to come to an early end.

"We can't let Mallah escape! Titans, GO!"

The five Titans rushed into the room just as the four screens bearing the faces of Slade and the other Brotherhood members flashed off. The conference had ended just a second earlier, and all that was left to do was for Mallah to clean up... but with five of the Teen Titans in his face, the French gorilla knew that the equipment would have to wait.

"This intrusion is most unwelcome," said Mallah, taking a step back as the Titans blocked the doorway that provided the room's only exit. "But unfortunately, you're too late to stop what's already been set into motion.

"We'll see about that," said Robin, extending his bo staff and holding it out at arm's length. "We'll never let you or Slade take control of this city!"

"That is correct, we will fight you all to the end of bitterness!" declared Starfire, forming a glowing Starbolt in each hand. Mallah backed up all the way toward the wall... his shoulder was still stinging from Raven's earlier attack, and he knew that fighting the Titans now was a pointless enterprise.

"I would certainly love to stay and fight with all of you, but I have far more important things to deal with... so I bid you all adieu."

Before the Titans could attack, Mallah withdrew a flash bomb and threw it to the ground, blinding them and allowing the gorilla to punch through the wall and make his escape. He leapt down to the sidewalk from six stories up, his durable body sustaining little damage as he landed on his feet and quickly bounded off. The Titans ran toward the window and peered through the hole that Mallah had made, but by the time they looked down, he was gone.

"We gotta go after him!" shouted Beast Boy. "We'll split up, a few of us to the left and the rest to the right...! Come on, we can't just let him go free!"

Robin was also tempted to pursue Mallah, but if they couldn't find him easily, any search would likely be time-wasting and pointless. The Titans would be much better served spending their time to organize a battle plan to counter the alliance between Slade and the Brotherhood of Evil.

"Titans, we're going back to the Tower," said Robin, a scowl on his face as he made his way out of the room and toward the stairs leading back to the ground floor.

"But we can't just let Mallah GO! He could lead us back to the Brotherhood's headquarters, and then..."

But Beast Boy's efforts to convince Robin were fruitless, and he didn't receive a response. A few seconds later, he found himself walking with the other Titans out into the hallway. As he walked, he could see Raven walking alongside him, and when he bowed his head, he could feel her hand gently touching his shoulder.

"I know how much you want to take down the Brotherhood of Evil..." said Raven, as calmly as she could. Though she was speaking in a mostly neutral tone, Beast Boy could detect in her voice a slight hint of sympathy. "We'll get them soon, Beast Boy. Them _and _Slade."

Beast Boy looked up at Raven, who quickly pulled her hand back and placed it at her side.

"I just... I just wanna show Mento and the others that I... that _we_... that we can do it," said Beast Boy, looking into Raven's eyes. The two were now following the rest of the team down the emergency staircase, slowly descending down several flights of stairs to the ground floor. "Last time, the Brotherhood got away because of me... because I chose to save the Doom Patrol instead of stopping the Brain from escaping."

"So... you chose your friends over stopping the bad guys?"

"Yeah... I don't know why I regret it, but-"

"You don't," said Raven. "You don't regret saving them, you just resent having Mento talk down to you. You did the right thing, Beast Boy."

Raven quickened her pace, joining the rest of the team as they exited the building. Beast Boy jogged back up to her, calling out one last thing as he tried to catch up.

"You really think so?"

Raven looked back at Beast Boy, her eyes following him until he was right beside her again.

"You know what I think."

And she didn't say another thing to Beast Boy until the team was back at Titans Tower.

O-O-O

Terra returned from dinner at the Salazars' apartment, but when she got to the Tower, there was no one in the main room... and upon further searching, Terra discovered that the rest of the Tower was empty as well. She returned to the main room and sat down on the couch in front of the television, letting out a quizzical sigh.

"I wonder where everyone is?"

At first, she thought that they might've gone to dinner... since Terra was technically eating out, the Titans must've decided to go out as well, no sense cooking if there was someone who wasn't going to be there to eat.

But then, another thought crossed her mind...

"_I wonder if they got called out to a mission?"_

And then, Terra let out a gasp. Just before she'd said grace with the Salazars, she'd turned off her communicator... and before she could turn it back on, she'd gotten involved in a long conversation. If the Titans needed her, they had no way to reach her... she took out her communicator and her fears were immediately confirmed.

"Oh my god, I'm so stupid!"

Terra quickly stood up and walked over to a nearby computer, where hopefully, she'd find some clues as to where the other Titans had been called. But before she began to type, she heard the doors of the main room opening up, and when she turned, she could see the five of them coming in, solemn looks on each of their faces. She immediately ran over to try and apologize, but Robin would have none of it.

"Where the hell WERE you?!" shouted Robin, getting right up in Terra's face. "We found out where one of the Brotherhood members was going to be tonight, but when we called you to join us-"

"I'm sorry, I'm _really really _sorry...!!" said Terra, an almost pleading quality to her voice as she desperately tried to explain her mistake to Robin and the rest of the team. "Sanza's family wanted me to say grace with them, so I turned off my communicator, and I must've forgotten to turn it back on, because I never got your call..."

"You turned off your communicator?" said Raven, raising an eyebrow.

"You never _EVER _turn off your communicator," Robin said sternly, not quite as loudly as before, but still in a tone of voice that clearly indicated that he was angry. "As a Teen Titan, you have to be ready for everything, and always able to respond to any call that comes up! What if there had been a serious emergency, and we'd all gotten captured?"

"Oh, like that would _ever _happen," said Terra, still apologetic, but beginning to get indignant. "I'm really sorry about not being able to get over there, but it looks like all of you handled the situation just fine, so-"

"That's not the point," Robin replied. "If you're going to be on this team, you have to put everything else aside..."

Terra turned away from Robin and the others, bowing her head and trying to keep herself calm... while at the same time trying to stave off the tears that were forming in her eyes.

"_Who said I even wanted to be a part of this team? You guys came to ME, remember?" _Terra clenched her hands into fists, trying to think of all the reasons that she still wanted to be a Teen Titan... to use her powers responsibly, to atone for all the trouble she caused... and right now, she was beginning to think that maybe she couldn't be trusted... that she was just as much a danger to the team now as she was when she was Slade's apprentice.

She was doubting herself again.

"Terra... it's okay," said Beast Boy, gently placing a hand on Terra's shoulder. He too was disappointed that Terra had been AWOL on a mission, but he could also sense the growing sadness and guilt she was feeling... a feeling that he knew very well.

"No, it's not okay," replied Terra, on the verge of tears. "I messed up... just like I used to do, I messed up, and-"

Beast Boy quickly turned Terra around and placed his lips on hers, silencing her immediately and causing her to wrap her arms gently around him... after all the trouble she'd apparently caused, the last thing she expected was for Beast Boy to kiss her... but it was exactly what she needed to get herself calmed down. The other Titans watched until Terra and Beast Boy parted from one another just a few seconds later... and Terra quickly reached up to wipe a single tear from the side of her face.

"I'll tell you what happened tonight," said Robin, much calmer than he'd been before. "Come over and sit down on the couch, we'll give you a quick briefing... though you may not like some of the things we're about to tell you."

Terra did as she was told, walking over and sitting down with Beast Boy on the couch while he and the other Titans told her about the fight with Mallah and the start of the conference call... finally, the part that they knew Terra would dread... the part about the man who had just formed an alliance with the Brotherhood, and his plans for a certain one of Terra's close friends.

"So... who is it?" asked Terra, glancing around at the expressions on her teammates' faces. "Who's the guy that the Brotherhood is working with?"

"...Slade," said Robin. Instantly, the color drained out of the blonde Titans' already pale face, and she slumped back into the couch, her eyes as wide as saucers. "We know how hard it must be to learn this, but... you already know that he's alive again, so-"

"I... I know that..." said Terra, her voice coming out in a weak whisper. Her hands began to tremble, and Beast Boy instinctively reached out and grasped one of them, causing Terra to calm down.

"He's not targeting you," said Raven, trying to bring some reassurance to her geomancer teammate. "He's targeting the city... he's targeting the world."

"And... he is also targeting Sanza," Starfire continued. Terra let out a quiet gasp.

"He wants Sanza to be his new apprentice," said Robin, a solemn look on his face.

"But... but didn't Sanza already tell him that he wasn't going to be his apprentice?" asked Terra, her voice getting louder. "Sanza said that he'd _never _be Slade's apprentice, no matter what!"

"We don't know for sure exactly what Sanza's status with Slade is right now," said Cyborg, "but we do know that in the past two weeks, he's been committing a bunch of robberies."

"I know that!" said Terra, now almost shouting. Her frightened look from before had become a look of anger... she was almost defensive. "But Sanza would never be Slade's apprentice! When I talked to him, he didn't even mention Slade!"

This came as a bit of shock to the Titans at first... but then, each of them quickly figured out why Sanza hadn't wanted to tell Terra that Slade had been coming after him lately. Anyone who knew about Terra's past for any length of time knew that her history with Slade had been filled with tragedy and terror, hatred to the point that Terra sacrificed herself to kill him.

"He... may have been trying to protect you," said Raven. "I agree with Terra, Sanza would never willingly work with Slade... it's likely that his family is being threatened again. If Slade knew that Sanza had feelings for Terra-"

"Wait, how do you know Sanza has feelings for me?" asked Terra, her head quickly turning in Raven's direction.

"I just know," replied Raven. _"And I also know that you have feelings for him too... when he freed you from Sedaris' trap, I could see it in your eyes..."_

Terra leaned against the back of the couch again, staring at the ceiling for several moments. All the news she'd gotten in such a short time... Slade was working with the Brotherhood of Evil, he might be going after Sanza, and Raven, and probably now the rest of the team, knew about her feelings for him.

It had been one incredible evening... and Terra just wanted it to be over, as soon as possible. She stood up from the couch and without a word began walking toward the elevator that would take her up to her room. Just as she was passing the couch, Beast Boy gently grabbed her wrist, trying to get her attention.

"Terra... it's okay... didn't I tell you earlier today that it was okay if you liked Sanza?"

"But... Beast Boy..."

"He... he saved you... he saved you twice, so-"

"I'm... I'm not some sad little girl that needs saving, who said I liked him for that...?" But in those moments when Terra was under the control of the Crisis Crystal... in the split second before she would have been blown to pieces by Sedaris, Sanza _did _save Terra... and she most certainly did need it.

And she didn't resent him for it, either... she was eternally grateful.

But Terra didn't want to talk, not to Robin, or Raven, or even Beast Boy... she just wanted to go to her room, to lie in bed and to think... and to sleep, and to dream, and to forget... forget about everything. She pulled away from Beast Boy and entered the elevator without a word, leaving him to wonder and worry about whether or not he'd said something wrong.

"You didn't," said Raven, completely out of the blue. Beast Boy quickly turned around to look at her, her emotionless, yet understanding eyes looking straight into his own.

"_Thanks, Rae..."_

O-O-O

Math class was as boring as ever for Sanza, who tried to alleviate the tedium of listening to his teacher's lectures by doodling a picture of Terra's face on a piece of paper. He wasn't a particularly good artist, but he did manage to get the essential facial features properly proportioned.

"_I wish I had something to draw with besides this stupid pencil," _thought Sanza, disappointed that he would be unable to properly depict Terra's eyes, which he thought were too beautiful to draw in anything but the brilliant blue they deserved. _"Maybe someone nearby has some colored pencils I can use..."_

Sanza scanned the students in the surrounding area, stopping for a brief moment when his eyes met with those of his ex-girlfriend Cleo. She seemed to be listening intently to the teacher's lesson, but her eyes had a glazed-over quality, like she was thinking about something else... and Sanza couldn't help but remember exactly what she was probably remembering.

"_Cleo... I'm still so sorry for what happened..."_

Cleo had been slowly trying to recover from what had happened to her just three weeks before, when she was raped by someone who'd abducted her to get to Sanza. She'd never forgiven him for endangering her, and the two had spoken only twice since it had happened... with both conversations ending terribly.

"Would you like to tell me why you're paying more attention to your classmates than the lesson?"

Sanza quickly turned to look at his teacher, a tall, fairly attractive redhead in her late 20s. Her name was Mrs. Perlitz, new to the school but acutely intelligent, and despite being strict at times with students who didn't seem to be motivated, she was usually very caring and friendly.

"Well uh..." His hands quickly moved to cover up the picture he'd been drawing, but his teacher had already seen it, and she quickly gestured for him to move his hands. "Aw... c'mon, Mrs. Perlitz, I-"

"Now, Sanza."

Sanza reluctantly lifted his hands, and Mrs. Perlitz immediately reached down and yanked up the drawing. She studied it for a moment, then turned it toward the rest of the class so they could get a look.

"Hey, isn't that one of the Teen Titans? The new one, Terra?"

"Can't be her, it doesn't have blue eyes."

"It's done in _pencil_, retard."

As the class continued murmuring about the picture, Cleo said nothing, taking a brief sad look at Sanza before returning to her own inner musings. She brushed some of the hair back from her face, having kept up her appearances since the rape, letting very few people know what had happened... besides the Titans, Sanza and her parents, the only people who knew were the school guidance counselor, Rob, and Marcy. The latter two had promised Cleo they wouldn't say anything about it when she told them, and they'd kept to their word, not speaking to Cleo about it since.

After a few more seconds, Mrs. Perlitz set the picture back down on Sanza's desk and returned to the front of the room to continue her lecture, without saying a word. After class, just before Sanza could leave, she asked him to stay behind and come up to her desk.

"Look, about the picture... well, actually, maybe I could use some help."

Normally, the math teacher would be the _last _person Sanza would ask about such matters, but being as young as she was, Mrs. Perlitz may be able to relate to Sanza on some level. He dared not ask Marcy, for fear that she might interpret the question as something else entirely.

"There's this girl, and... I really like her, _really _like her. And she likes me back, but... then there's this other guy, and she likes him too..."

"Uh... okay," replied Mrs. Perlitz, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "So... what's that have to do with you not paying attention in class today?"

"Nothing, it's just... how would you go about trying to get the girl to like you? If you were _me_, anyway."

"...well, that's... that's really complicated, I mean..." She continued to think for a moment, remembering the picture that Sanza had been drawing at the time. "Sanza, is it that girl you were drawing? You know she's a Teen Titan, right?"

"...who said it was her?" Sanza responded, a growing blush on his face. _"Ugh... I knew I should've asked my mom about this... or even MADDY... she already knows how I feel about Terra."_

"...look, you're not really a superhero, so... I mean, you're sweet, if at times a bit of a slacker, but... I don't know, try buying her flowers or something."

Sanza let out a sigh. Asking Mrs. Perlitz about Terra was definitely not a smart thing to do... but he was beginning to get a bit desperate. Last night, after she'd left, he'd spent hours thinking about her. It had kept him up at night, and while he knew that Terra and Beast Boy had a good thing going, he also knew that he couldn't fight his feelings... feelings that were growing stronger everyday, even stronger than the feelings he'd had for Starfire. And unlike Starfire, who he knew was always mostly attracted to Robin, Terra was _definitely _attracted to him, maybe even falling in love with him like he was falling for her.

One other person had stayed behind... watching Sanza from just behind the doorway, her head poking into the room. It was Cleo, and though she no longer had feelings for Sanza, seeing him apparently falling for Terra intrigued her.

"_I don't care what you do, or who you end up with... but I just hope you can protect her better than you protected me."_

Cleo turned and began to walk down the hallway, only to bump right into one of her classmates and nearly fall to the floor. It was Steve, his short blonde hair hanging down the sides of his face, and he'd startled Cleo so much that she nearly jumped out of her shoes.

"I'm... I'm sorry," said Steve, looking genuinely distressed that he'd almost knocked Cleo down. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Cleo replied quietly, trying to walk around Steve as quickly as possible so she could get to her next class. As she passed him, she could hear him ask her another question, and almost ignored it entirely... but there was something in his voice that made her stop.

"...are you sure?"

She turned halfway, looking at him with her eyes while keeping her body pointed mostly in the other direction.

"What do you mean?"

"The last few weeks, you've been... acting different, like something happened... are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

This time, she didn't stop, walking down the hall with her books as quickly as she could. Steve watched her for a couple of seconds before turning around and staring down at the floor.

"_Something's wrong... I don't know what's going on with her, but... I'm worried."_

A few seconds later, Sanza emerged from the classroom. He hadn't seen Steve or Cleo, and by the time he got out into the hallway, there wasn't anyone nearby, leaving him alone in front of the doorway. He was still thinking of Terra, and while he knew that there was a great deal of uncertainty in his relationship with her, there _was _one blessing of always having the beautiful blonde on his mind.

When he was thinking about Terra, he wasn't thinking about Slade.

O-O-O

Nearby, at a branch of the Jump City Bank, three miscreants were thinking about something entirely different...

"All right, just put all the money in this bag and we'll be on our way!" shouted Jinx, holding up a white bag to the terrified teller behind the counter. Her five cohorts: Gizmo, Mammoth, Billy Numerous, Kid Wykkyd, and See-More were behind her, watching the customers who had been forced to the ground.

"Y...yes, we'll give you all the money, just... please don't hurt us!" squealed the frightened teller as she quickly began loading bundles of money into the bag.

"You'll be on your way all right..." came a voice from the front of the bank... a voice that belonged to the leader of the Teen Titans, Robin. "On your way to jail!"

The six H.I.V.E. members immediately turned toward the six Titans, who stood ready to fight in the doorway of the bank. The distraction allowed everyone inside but the criminals and the Titans to exit the building, giving the two teenage teams an uninterrupted field on which to do battle.

"Aw man, those pitsniffing Titans always show up to ruin our fun!" shouted Gizmo, prompting Terra to give him a strange look.

"Eh... he always says stupid stuff like that," Beast Boy told her. Terra gave a quick nod, and looked again at the group of H.I.V.E. members... recognizing one immediately.

"You!" Terra shouted at Jinx, her eyes narrowing with contempt. Jinx gave a devious smile, immediately recognizing the newest Titan from their fight at the supermarket.

"This time, I'll kick your butt, blondie," Jinx replied.

"Titans, GO!"

When Robin gave the signal, all of the Titans immediately chose one of the H.I.V.E. members to go for. Terra charged Jinx immediately, tackling her through the glass behind the teller's desk.

"Aaaaaaaaaagh!" shouted Jinx as her back impacted the floor. "I thought that glass was supposed to be bulletproof!"

Terra pulled back her fist and struck Jinx with a single punch before the gray-skinned villainess kicked her up into the air. Terra landed a few feet away, and Jinx fired a pink energy blast at the desk behind her, splintering it into pieces and bombarding Terra with wooden shrapnel.

As round two of Terra vs. Jinx raged behind the counter, the other Titans had their hands full. Robin was using his bo staff to mitigate the effects of Gizmo's various tools, while Cyborg and Mammoth were having a contest of strength, each attempting to wrestle the other to the ground. Kid Wykkyd and Raven had yet to hit one another, due to both of them phasing all over the bank, which was beginning to get rather crowded as Billy Numerous cloned himself multiple times in an attempt to get a jump on the much stronger Starfire.

"Gyehhehhehheh, I got you now, little lady!" said Billy Numerous, his excitement growing with every clone he made. Once there were twelve of them, all twelve attempted to tackle Starfire at once, and for a moment, they succeeded.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" With a furious scream, Starfire threw the clones from her body. They flew across the room, some of them colliding with one of the combatants, while most just slammed into the wall. One of them had hit Beast Boy, which gave his opponent See-More a distinct advantage.

"All right, See-More," said one of the Billy Numerous clones, holding a struggling Beast Boy in place. "I'll hold him, and you blast him! It'll be easier than catchin' catfish on Sunday!"

"Heh heh, I just about got him..." said See-More, quickly adjusting the eye on his head from black to green, and finally to red, preparing to cut Beast Boy to pieces with his heat vision laser. "Prepare to fry!"

At the last moment, Beast Boy transformed into a rat, exposing Numerous' face to the full force of See-More's laser. With a howl of pain, the Numerous clone tumbled back, falling into a pile of unconscious and groaning clones that had already been placed on the floor. With an angry yell, See-More fired his laser again, only to have Beast Boy transform into a ram and knock him into the wall.

"Some of my teammates might lose to you guys, but there's no way I'm gonna!" Gizmo shouted. Robin was always careful when fighting Gizmo... despite the young man's mangled grammar and childish insults, his intellect and gadgets made him a tricky foe to beat, and he held his bo staff in the defensive position while Gizmo prepared another of his 'toys'. "This one I like to call the Electro-Ball... you're gonna get quite a shock once it activates!"

A glowing, spherical object hit the ground and rolled between Robin's legs. Before he could get out of the way, thousands of volts of electricity shot up from the device, engulfing Robin's body and forcing him to his knees. Starfire and Raven both heard Robin's screams and rushed to his aid, only to be surprised by Mammoth, who leapt down behind them and slammed their heads together, sending them to the ground in a daze.

"Took care of the girly girls, Gizmo... now, who's left?"

"Did you forget about me?" shouted Cyborg, rushing at Mammoth with a loud, angry war cry and decking him across the face as he tried to turn around. Mammoth stumbled backwards a couple of steps, then shook his head rapidly to try and dissipate the pounding in his head. Cyborg threw another punch, which Mammoth countered by blocking with his forearm. Just then, a screaming Jinx flew over the counter, landing face-down on the floor. Hovering over her was Terra, standing on a piece of the bank's carpet which had been levitated along with the bedrock below.

"Y'know, blonde is a _way _better hair color than pink," said Terra, smirking down at Jinx as she tried to stand. "But I could beat you even if I was bald."

"That... can be arranged...!" shouted Jinx, angrily leaping onto Terra's inpromptu platform and exchanging blows with her. "Maybe I'll shave your head after I beat you into submission!"

The fight continued for a few seconds, until Terra threw a careless punch that Jinx countered by grabbing and twisting her wrist. Terra let out a cry of pain, and Jinx hit her in the chest with an energy blast, throwing her off of the rock and into the back of the bank.

"Terra...!!!" shouted a _very _angry Beast Boy, transforming into a gorilla and punching Jinx hard in the back. The pink-haired girl hit the counter below and was instantly knocked out... and her H.I.V.E. comrades weren't having much better luck. Even Gizmo, whose Electro-Ball had been so devastating to Robin, found himself thwarted just a minute later by a well-thrown Bird-a-rang that sliced all of the other Electro-Balls in half. The beaten, weary, and humiliated H.I.V.E. Five were now making their way to the door, hoping to retreat before the Titans could take them off to jail.

"This isn't the last you'll be hearing from us!" shouted Mammoth, holding the still-unconscious Jinx over his shoulder. "We'll be back!"

The six Titans had regrouped and were preparing to pursue the H.I.V.E. out of the bank... but as it turned out, they didn't have to. When the beaten criminals attempted to leave, they found their exit blocked by the most unlikely foursome... the Doom Patrol.

"You won't be going _anywhere_," said Mento authoritatively, his hands on his hips.

"Says who, old-timer?" replied Billy Numerous, walking up to Mento and giving him a shove. The leader of the Doom Patrol responded by hitting all six members of the H.I.V.E. Five with a psychic blast that sent them all flying. They landed in a groaning heap in the middle of the bank, no longer in any condition to run or to fight.

"The... the Doom Patrol?" said Beast Boy after detransforming, surprised to see his four former teammates showing up to stop a robbery. "Aren't you guys supposed to be looking for the Brotherhood of Evil?"

"That doesn't mean we can't help the city with its crime problem," said Elasti-Girl.

"Yeah, we're superheroes too, you know..." said Robotman. "Though it looks like we got here a bit too late to stop the actual robbery..."

"I'm just glad you and your friends were here to stop it for us, Garfield," said Elasti-Girl, smiling as she walked over to Beast Boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Any luck with finding the Brotherhood?"

"Rita, you know they probably haven't found anything," said Mento, still as cantankerous as ever. "Unfortunately, neither have we... but we're getting close. I can smell Brotherhood scum from a mile away."

"Actually," said Robin, approaching Mento, "we _have _found something. We know what the Brotherhood's plans are, and who they're working with as well."

Mento's eyes widened slightly. At first, he didn't believe what Robin was saying... but a quick scan of the teenager's mind revealed that he was indeed telling the truth. He could have scanned further to find out exactly what Robin knew... but instead, decided to hear the truth straight from Robin's mouth.

"...tell me everything."

O-O-O

As the police came to take the defeated H.I.V.E. members off to jail, Robin related to Mento everything that he and the other Titans had seen the previous night.

"So... this Slade, he's another criminal mastermind, right?" asked Mento.

"That's right," Robin replied. "The Brotherhood plans to send Slade after us while they take out the rest of the world's young heroes."

"Why bother with the young heroes?" Mento said, slightly annoyed at the fact that apparently, the Brotherhood no longer considered the Doom Patrol a threat. "They need to be worried about _us_... we're the Doom Patrol, and we've always beaten them in the past!"

"Because we're the future, sir..." said Beast Boy, trying to be as confident as he could, even in the presence of his old leader. "They know all of you are still really tough, but... there are a lot of strong young heroes in the world too, and they're trying to take us all out..."

"If they take out the young heroes, and the old heroes die, there won't be anyone left to challenge their domination over the world," said Raven grimly. "They're obviously thinking long-term... they intend to rule the planet for a very, very long time."

"Well, that's not going to happen!" shouted Mento, turning to the other three members of his team. "Right?"

"...maybe we should work with the Titans on this one," replied Negative Man. "The Titans were able to learn the Brotherhood's mission... which is obviously a lot more than we've been able to find."

"I hate to say it, but he's right," said Robotman, gesturing toward the Titans. "These kids seem to have done a pretty good job so far... maybe we should team up with 'em, just for a little-"

"No," said Mento, turning away from the Titans and gesturing for the rest of his team to follow him. "We have to stop the Doom Patrol on our own... Garfield, what you did yesterday was _very _risky. You could've gotten yourself and the rest of your team killed."

"...what?!" shouted Beast Boy, stepping forward to confront Mento. "Are you kidding me?"

But Mento, ignoring his former teammate's protests, only turned around to make sure that the other Doom Patrol members were following him. Negative Man and Robotman were right behind him, but Elasti-Girl was lagging behind... remaining to give a few encouraging words to Beast Boy.

"Garfield," she whispered, bending down to give him a hug, "Steve has been so stubborn about this, I know, but... he truly does care about you... he does want you to be safe... and I have confidence in you and your team."

"Rita..." Mento said quietly, beginning to get impatient that Elasti-Girl was holding up the group. "We've still got work to do."

"All right," said Rita, turning away from Beast Boy and joining the rest of the Doom Patrol as they disappeared down the street. Beast Boy watched her leave until she was completely gone from view, then let out a sigh and turned back toward the rest of his team.

"I can't believe they still don't respect me," said Beast Boy, sadly shaking his head. "At least Rita still has confidence in me..."

"We all have confidence in you, Beast Boy," said Robin, smiling and placing a reassuring hand on his teammate's shoulder. "It's because of you that we've gotten as close to taking out the Brotherhood of Evil as we have. And soon, we'll take them out for good."

"That's right, we don't need the Doom Patrol to kick some Brain butt!" said Cyborg. "All we need is each other!"

The Titans gave nods of agreement, and together, began to head back to the Tower. But one of them wasn't quite so certain of the team's success. It wasn't the Brotherhood of Evil that had Terra so worried... it was Slade, who she knew was more dangerous than all the Brotherhood members put together.

"_Now I _really _hope you can come help us, Sanza..." _thought Terra, trying to keep a smile on her face as she got into the T-Car with the rest of the team. _"I _know _you don't want to be Slade's apprentice... and I know that you want to beat him just as badly as I do."_

O-O-O

"...what are you gonna do if somebody comes in here?"

"I'll take my chances."

When Sanza had entered the bathroom between third and fourth periods, the last person he expected to see was Slade... the man who had once again been attempting to court Sanza as his apprentice.

"I was very impressed with how quickly you brought me that tape two nights ago. I wasn't surprised that you actually got the tape, but... you did it so well... stealing comes so naturally to you, Sanza."

Sanza clenched his fists, knowing that Slade's false flattery was just another form of taunting him... and he could feel rage beginning to swell within his body.

"Tell me... what you want... then get the hell out of here."

Of course, Sanza was in no hurry to receive his next assignment, knowing that there was a chance Slade might require him to harm someone... the stealing he didn't mind, it was the taking orders that _really _annoyed Sanza. But when he was forced to harm innocent people, or even the Titans, it suddenly became a lot harder for the thief to do what he was told.

"Last night, you had a guest over for dinner... didn't you?"

Sanza let out a gasp, stumbling back with his mouth wide open in shock.

"_How does he know...? Did he put cameras back in my house or something?" _The thought of Slade once again being able to watch every move that Sanza and his family made brought chills to the young man's spine... and Slade was only to happy to know that he was making his potential apprentice squirm. "Slade, you'd better tell me right now how you know about-"

"I saw her, Sanza, I saw Terra walking to your apartment. I saw her coming up the fire escape, and a few hours later, I saw her coming back out. I assume she was there for dinner, unless there's something else you'd like me to know that, while certainly a potential source of gossip for your ignorant friends, is completely irrelevant to the subject of our current discussion."

"You're... you're watching Terra too?"

"Oh, don't worry, I'm quite done with wanting _her _as my apprentice... as you may know, she was directly responsible for my untimely death about a year back, and I'd prefer never to associate with her outside of battle again. This is all about _you_, Sanza... all about the things you care for, about the people you love... and what will happen to them if you ever refuse to follow my orders."

So now, Slade was cutting to the chase. Once again, he was directly threatening Sanza's family... and potentially, Terra as well.

Sanza was angry. He was also afraid, both for his family and for himself... but he was also angry, and if he had a weapon in his hands, he almost certainly would've used it... he hated Slade with every fiber of his being, hated having to put up with this madman, this monster in his life...

But to protect the people he loved, he would do everything he was told.

"I also understand that the Titans want you to help them fight the Brotherhood of Evil. So, I'm ordering you to do just that. I want you to start working with the Titans again."

Obviously, there was a catch, and Sanza knew it well.

"...you want me to betray them, right?"

"In the course of their investigation into the Brotherhood's activities, they will undoubtedly end up in a place called Gerrik Memorial Coliseum. It's located on the Jump City University campus."

Sanza knew exactly where it was... he'd been there a couple of times as a child to watch football games with his father. The coliseum had been decommissioned when Jump City University's new state-of-the-art field had been built, and would likely be completely empty at night... unless of course, someone planned to use it for unsavory purposes.

"I'm setting up an ambush there for the Titans. As soon as the battle starts, I want you to betray them... to fight with my strike team and destroy the Titans. That includes my former apprentice... that includes Terra."

It was the proposal Sanza had been dreading... coming much, much sooner than he'd ever expected. It had come down to his family... or Terra.

"I..."

But Slade didn't wait for Sanza's response, walking around him and exiting the restroom the way he came. As soon as he stepped out, the bell rang to signal the beginning of Sanza's fourth-period class... but suddenly, Sanza didn't feel like going to class anymore.

"_Slade... you son of a bitch... you bastard... I HATE YOU!!!"_

With a loud scream of rage, Sanza turned toward one of the mirrors and punched it as hard as he could, shattering the glass and making several small gashes in his right hand.

But at that point, Sanza was so angry that he could no longer feel the pain.

O-O-O

The Titans re-entered their Tower, slightly exhausted from the battle they'd had with the Hive F.I.V.E., but knowing that they still had plenty of work to do if they wanted to find the Brotherhood of Evil before they could carry out their plan for conquest of the city.

"Take a few minutes to rest, then meet back in here so we can look for potential places the Brotherhood could be hiding," said Robin, walking over and sitting down on the couch, his arms stretched out across the top. As Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg, and Terra began to disperse, Starfire walked up to the Boy Wonder with a slip of paper in her hand.

"I found this on the floor of the bank, I believe that it was dropped by one of the H.I.V.E. Five when Mento blasted them across the room," said Starfire, handing Robin the paper. Written on it in pencil were the words 'Gerrik Coliseum', with '10:00 PM tomorrow night' scrawled right under it. Robin quickly inspected the paper.

"This might be some kind of meeting place," said Robin, standing up from the couch and calling to the rest of his team. "Everyone, hold on... Starfire's found something important!"

The four Titans walked over to the couch, Cyborg and Terra offering slight groans that their rest had been interrupted before it even began. When Robin showed them the slip of paper, they quickly changed their tune... recognizing the importance of any clue that they found, thought not entirely sure exactly what it meant.

"This could just be the H.I.V.E.'s meeting place," said Cyborg, "and with them in jail..."

"I don't think so," replied Robin. "This was given to them by someone _outside _the H.I.V.E... and remember what we heard last night?"

"The Brotherhood plans to use other villains to help them take over the city..." said Starfire, her hand to her lips. "So this must be...!"

"A gathering," said Raven, saying what the rest of the team was already starting to realize. "The Brotherhood of Evil must be assembling its forces..."

"But there's only one way to find out," said Robin, looking around at his teammates. "We need to go out in the city and find some of the other villains... and find out if they got invitations like this one. I know we just got back from one battle, but... the fate of the city, and maybe the world, depends on us stopping the Brotherhood of Evil _now_!"

The others nodded in agreement, with Beast Boy looking especially determined.

"_I bet Mento and the others haven't found out anything _this _good!" _thought Beast Boy. _"Once me and the rest of the Titans stop the Brotherhood of Evil, he'll have to respect me!"_

O-O-O

While Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Terra were out canvassing the city, Raven was coordinating their efforts from a control station in a secluded room inside the Tower. She was seated in front of a large radar console, with five red blips representing each of her teammates. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg had formed one group, while Beast Boy and Terra formed another... and Raven was ready to give them any vital updates on villain activity within the city... that way, the Titans could immediately respond to the sighting and be on the scene in minutes.

As she was watching the radar, she noticed a small blip at the lower-right corner of the screen... but it wasn't indicating a villain attack. The motion sensors had detected someone at the door of Titans Tower.

"_...who in the world could that be?" _thought Raven, speaking into her radio to the rest of her teammates. "Someone's at the door... I need to check on it really quick, I'll be back in a few moments."

She got up and left the room, turning down several hallways until she reached the main room of the Tower.

"_Whoever you are, this had better be really important..."_

She opened the door, and there, standing in front of her, was Red X.

"...can I come in?"

Not only was Raven extremely surprised to see the thief requesting entry into Titans Tower, but she knew full well that Slade had been trying to recruit him again... and a large part of her mind was telling her to question Red X's motives.

"What do you want?"

"I want to help you fight the Brotherhood... this isn't for you, it's for Terra. Now, may I _please _come in?"

Raven still wasn't sure, and her mind was racing to figure out the reason for Red X's appearance at the Tower. She tried reading his thoughts, but picked up nothing suspicious... instead, all she saw was lots and lots of thoughts about Terra... and thinking these thoughts to be harmless enough, decided to allow him in.

"They're all on a mission at the moment... let me tell you everything we know."

As Red X followed Raven into the Tower, he couldn't believe just how trusting she was of him... and how she apparently had no idea that he was planning to betray them to Slade.

Yet another advantage of always thinking about Terra.

O-O-O

That's it for chapter 4... it looks like Sanza and the Titans are working together again, but... will he betray them? And if so, when?


	5. Resolute Reversal

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

In a warehouse at the northern end of the city, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were in hot pursuit of the villain known as Control Freak.

"You Titans are persistent!" shouted the overweight villain, stopping in front of a large stack of boxes and turning to face his three pursuers. "I wasn't even doing anything, I was just minding my own business when you losers attacked me!"

He raised his remote control and pointed it at the stack of boxes, pressing a button that caused the boxes to take the shape of a tall, powerful monster. The box monster swung its large arms at Starfire, who floated up to avoid the strike and threw a flurry of Starbolts at the monster's face and chest, knocking it backward. While Starfire attacked the monster, Robin and Cyborg focused their attention on Control Freak.

"We just have a couple of questions for you, then you can be on your way," said Robin, firing a Birdcable at Control Freak in an attempt to tie him up. Control Freak pointed his remote at the cable, pressing a button that caused it to backfire and bind Robin's arms instead. He let out an angry scream and fell to the ground, just as Cyborg fired several blasts from his plasma cannon at the villain.

"I don't know anything, and even if I did, I'd never tell you losers!" shouted Control Freak, deftly dodging the blasts before pressing another button on his remote that caused a suit of body armor to appear on him, covering him up from head to toe and causing Cyborg's blasts to deflect harmlessly off. "You fools have no idea who you're dealing with!"

With a loud laugh, Control Freak rushed forward and punched Cyborg across the face. The body armor covering his fists enhanced the blow, and Cyborg soon found himself facing a rain of punches from his opponent, the force of which brought him to the ground at the feet of Robin, still struggling to escape his own Birdcable.

"This isn't getting any easier, man!" shouted Cyborg, now on the ground and being forced to use his hands to block Control Freak's punches. "I hope you know a way to beat this guy quick, or we're in trouble!"

A huge, green explosion from above diverted the Titans and Control Freak's attention to a short distance away, where the box monster that had been spawned just moments earlier was destroyed in a hail of wooden shrapnel. In the center of the explosion floated Starfire, a triumphant smile on her face.

"Have you forgotten about me already?" asked the Tamaranian girl, swooping down and launching a kick that struck Control Freak in the side and sent him flying into a nearby pillar. The attack gave Robin enough time to cut through his bonds, while Cyborg was able to stand up and regain his bearings. "Everyone, we must hurry... we have many more villains to investigate!"

Robin and Cyborg nodded, turning back toward Control Freak, who was still clad in his suit of body armor, though it was clear that Starfire's blow had damaged it somewhat.

"Okay, so you landed _one _pathetic attack... big deal!" shouted Control Freak, pointing his remote at the three Titans. "I will not be denied! I'll just send you all to... I dunno, Siberia or something."

"I don't think so," said Robin, extending his bo staff and looking right into Control Freak's eyes. "Titans, go!"

A beam of green light rushed forward from the villain's remote, but the Titans scattered just in time, causing the beam to rush past them and hit a pile of broken boxes instead. Control Freak pointed the remote at Robin and fired again, but he dodged to the side and slammed his staff into the side of Control Freak's head, denting the villain's body armor and knocking him back.

"Let's see how you like a little sonic disruption!" shouted Cyborg, firing his cannon at the same time that Control Freak deployed another teleportation blast from his remote. The two energy beams collided, forcing the teleportation beam back until it slammed into Control Freak, taking his body armor... and the rest of his clothes with it. The television-obsessed villain was now standing in the middle of the warehouse, clad in only his boxers... and looking none too pleased about it.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!" screamed the overweight villain, his hands rushing to his waist to cover up his underpants, which were decorated with the image of Starfire's smiling face. While Robin and Cyborg recoiled in disgust, the Tamaranian girl launched into a fit of giggles, not knowing whether to be flattered or horrified.

"I have... never seen such whimsical undergarments," said Starfire, her cheeks as red as Control Freak's were. She put her hand to her lips and giggled again, while Robin simply walked over to Control Freak and looked him right in the eyes.

"It's obvious you're no longer in any condition to fight," said Robin, "so make it easier on yourself by telling me _exactly _what I want to know."

But while Control Freak no longer had his clothes, he _did _have his remote... and he meekly raised it up, pointing it at Robin in a last ditch effort to win the battle. As soon as he lifted it, Cyborg blasted it out of his hand, sending it skidding along the warehouse floor, well out of the villain's reach. After a nervous laugh, Control Freak was once again subjected to Robin's interrogation.

"I'm going to ask you this once, and if you don't tell me what I want to know, you'll be sorry. Did you receive an invitation to go to the abandoned football stadium at Jump City University tomorrow night?"

"I... I don't know what you're talking about..." said Control Freak, beginning to tremble nervously. Unwilling to waste any more time, Robin grabbed the villain by the throat and violently pushed him up against a nearby pillar, repeating his question slower and louder than before. "OKAY! Okay, I... I got a piece of paper a few days ago... this... this weird monkey guy gave it to me, said it was an offer I couldn't refuse, and... and that we were gonna take over the city... that's all I know, I swear!"

Robin released Control Freak's throat, turning to the other two Titans. They nodded solemnly, having heard everything that Control Freak said.

"So this _is _what we thought it was..." said Cyborg quietly. "The Brotherhood of Evil is bringing all of Jump City's criminals together..."

O-O-O

Down at the pier, Beast Boy and Terra were in a pursuit of their own... Punk Rocket was giving them a very difficult task.

"You two like it loud? I'll give you PLENTY of loud!"

Punk Rocket played a chord on his guitar, sending waves of sonic energy barreling toward the two young Titans. Beast Boy let out a scream, while Terra lifted up a section of the ground to block the sonic waves. The waves punched through the hard rock in just a few seconds, slamming into Terra and knocking her back into Beast Boy, an impact that send both of them flying.

"See you losers later!" shouted Punk Rocket, hopping on his guitar and taking off into the air.

"We can't let him get away!" said Beast Boy, grabbing Terra's hand as she levitated another large chunk of rock from the ground under both of their feet.

"C'mon!" Terra's rock flew up and away, traveling at such great speed that the two Titans quickly caught up with their target. By the time Punk Rocket looked behind him, Terra and Beast Boy were close enough to reach out and push him off of his guitar... but instead, Terra opted for just tossing a few small rocks at the guitar-playing villain. The rocks buffeted Punk Rocket's body, annoying him and causing bruises to appear on his face and chest.

"That doesn't rock!" Punk Rocket quickly swooped down toward the ground, jumping off of his guitar and taking it back into his hands. As Beast Boy and Terra came down toward him, he played several chords, sending out waves of energy that Terra was forced to dodge on her way back down.

"Terra, maybe we should give this guy a rock _concert_, huh?" said Beast Boy, a smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around Terra from behind, holding onto her while she descended toward the ground.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," said the blonde, smiling as she leapt off of the rock, using her feet to push it at Punk Rocket while the two Titans made their landing. The rock slammed into Punk Rocket's head, knocking him off his feet and nearly causing the guitar to fly out of his hands. He fell hard onto his back, which knocked the wind out of him, giving Beast Boy and Terra time to mount another attack. "Now for the grand finale!"

Terra extended her arms forward, opening her palms and causing large chunks of rock to jut out of the ground, forming a rocky cage around Punk Rocket that didn't even give him enough room to stand. Still groaning, he sat up and watched as Terra slowly came toward him, her eyes aglow.

"Unnnngh... you think... this is over...?"

"Yeah, I do," said Terra, placing her hands on her hips. "So you might want to tell us everything you know about an invitation you may have received to a certain meeting tomorrow night."

Punk Rocket smirked, holding up his guitar and preparing to play a chord. Beast Boy quickly tried to warn Terra, but the villain's fingers were quicker than the changeling's tongue, and the sonic waves emitted by the guitar destroyed Terra's rocky prison in less than a second, reverberating outward with enough force to knock the geomancer to the ground. She let out a scream, falling back into Beast Boy's arms with a dazed look in her eyes.

"The only thing I'll tell you is that you're not gonna catch me... not now, not ever!" said Punk Rocket, playing another chord on his guitar. Thinking quickly, Beast Boy set Terra aside and transformed into a gorilla, letting out a roar and blocking the sonic waves against his large, muscular chest. The waves knocked gorilla Beast Boy back a couple of feet, but the rest of them bounced harmlessly off, protecting both himself and Terra from their dangerous effects. In frustration, Punk Rocket played another chord, but this time, Beast Boy didn't even budge an inch... and as soon as he was done playing, Beast Boy charged forward, swinging his fists down to try and knock the guitar from Punk Rocket's hands. "Oh crap...!"

Punk Rocket swung his guitar at Beast Boy's head, but it didn't even get halfway there before Beast Boy grabbed it with both hands, yanking it away from the villain and snapping it in two. His primary weapon destroyed, Punk Rocket had no other recourse but to fall on his knees and beg for mercy.

"All right! All right! Here!" Punk Rocket reached into his clothes and pulled out a piece of paper, just like the one that Starfire had found at the bank earlier that day. It had the same location and same time, Gerrik Coliseum, tomorrow night, ten PM. "Some stretchy lady gave it to me... she had a weird accent, like... French, or Russian, or something like that..."

Beast Boy detransformed and snatched the paper from Punk Rocket's hand, reading it and then showing it to Terra when she walked over.

"This is the place..." said Terra, rubbing the back of her head while reading the slip of paper. "I guess we'd better tell Robin and the others about-"

Just then, both Beast Boy and Terra's communicators rang. As they reached down to their waists to see who was calling, Punk Rocket took the opportunity to run... but the two Titans didn't care, their mission hadn't been to catch villains, but simply to find out if they had received the same message that the H.I.V.E. had. Their mission had been successful.

"Hello?" said Beast Boy, opening his communicator to see Raven's face on his screen. "Hey Raven, guess what? Robin's hunch was right, those bad guys _are _meeting tomorrow... the Brotherhood of Evil is definitely up to something."

"That's nice to hear, but actually, I have some more good news... at least, I _think _it's good news.

By now, both Beast Boy and Terra were looking at their communicators, not caring that the same image was appearing on both of them, and that it might be more prudent for both of them just to look at the same screen.

"Red X came to the Tower a few minutes ago... he wants to help us fight the Brotherhood of Evil."

"What?" said Beast Boy, slightly surprised by Raven's announcement. But while Beast Boy didn't know what to think, Terra had a smile on her face... her words had gotten to Sanza, he would be helping them after all!

"Oh wow... that's great news!" said Terra excitedly, her eyes wide with joy. "Can I talk to him?"

"He's in the other room right now, but... if you come back to the Tower, then yes, you can talk to him. By the way, Terra, I just told Robin, and... he's not nearly as happy as you are."

"Yeah, but... this is great, I... I told him that he should help us, and..."

Beast Boy could see that Terra was much more excited about this news than he was... and that Terra and Robin probably had vastly different opinions on the issue.

_"With Slade wanting Red X to be his apprentice, I can see why Robin might not be happy about this... but I think we can trust him, I mean... if the Brotherhood of Evil is working with Slade, and X wants to help us stop the Brotherhood of Evil, then he must want to help us with Slade too, right?"_

Terra wasn't even thinking about Slade... her mind had drifted to Red X... whom she had always known as Sanza. She didn't think of him as a thief wearing a mask, but as a person who'd been through much of what she'd been through... a person who had saved her life, a person with a good heart... and a person who she was glad to be teaming up with once again.

"Robin's group is already coming back to the Tower, are you guys coming back too?" asked Raven.

"Yeah, we'll be back in a few minutes," said Beast Boy, closing his communicator and turning to Terra. "Are you ready?"

The smile on Terra's face as she closed her communicator gave Beast Boy her answer before she could even say a word.

O-O-O

"Are you sure you're not helping us because Slade wants you to infiltrate the group?"

Back at the Tower, the Titans and Red X were once again seated on couches in the main room, and Robin was once again suspicious of the thief's motives. X didn't blame him... especially knowing that Robin's suspicions were right on the mark. Slade _had _told him to infiltrate the team, but whether or not he would do as he was told was still uncertain.

"Slade wanted me to infiltrate you before, and look what happened, I helped you almost kill him. Do you really think he'd be stupid enough to try something like that again?" Red X spoke casually, not defensive at all, just trying to put the Titans at ease. It seemed to be working on everyone but Robin... who had been suspicious of the thief's motives even while he was performing actions that most others would consider heroic. "Of course you don't _have _to trust me, but I'm only offering you my help once."

"Robin, I think he's telling the truth," replied Raven, who was still having trouble reading X's true motives... most of his thoughts were still concentrated on Terra. "Right now, we need to worry about stopping the Brotherhood of Evil."

"Raven's right, if the Brotherhood of Evil wants all of our enemies to meet there, they might be there making preparations for the meeting," said Cyborg. "The sooner we go and check that place out, the better. If we go there now, we might be able to catch 'em off guard."

Robin still had his suspicions, but right now, stopping the Brotherhood of Evil was foremost in his mind... and if they were carrying out the start of their plans tomorrow night, the Titans didn't have much time.

"All right then, we'll head down to the stadium and check it out," said Robin. The other Titans stood up, Red X along with them. "I'll give each of you further instructions when we get there... remember, we have until tomorrow night to stop the Brotherhood of Evil from setting its plan into motion."

The other Titans, especially Beast Boy, knew full well of the danger that the Brotherhood posed... especially if they were working with Slade.

"Thank you," said Terra, as she walked alongside Red X toward the front door of the Tower. "I... I knew you were going to help us..."

"I'm not here to help you take out the Brotherhood of Evil... I want to stop Slade," said Red X. "I'm not about to let him hurt anyone else like he hurt me and my family... that includes you, Terra."

He reached over and gently took Terra's hand in his own. She started to pull away, seeing Beast Boy standing right next to her... but the thief's words were comforting, and the feeling of his gloved hand in hers was even more so. She gave him a slight smile, not verbally communicating her gratitude, but trying to give him a look that indicated her thanks. He nodded quickly, understanding exactly what Terra was trying to tell him.

_"You do care... thank you, Sanza," _thought Terra, resisting the temptation to lean her head on his shoulder. _"But... please understand... I'm still not quite sure how Beast Boy would feel, and... I know I still have feelings for him too..."_

O-O-O

Once in the T-Car, it was a quick drive from Titans Tower to Jump City University, and Gerrik Memorial Coliseum was easy to find, just a short distance away from the university's current, larger football stadium. Despite the fact that it was a fairly crowded campus, the coliseum and the area around it were completely abandoned, which was a benefit to the Teen Titans, who wouldn't have to worry about encountering innocent civilians in their search for the Brotherhood. Cyborg parked the T-Car right in front of the stadium, and X and the Titans got out, with Robin and Starfire pulling up separately on Robin's T-Cycle and quickly joining the rest of the group.

"Here it is," said Robin, walking up to the coliseum's empty entrance gate and peering past the turnstiles, down to the football field below. "It doesn't look like anyone's here..."

"There's a lot to search, though," replied Cyborg. "Locker rooms, concession stands... we'll have to do a complete sweep to make sure."

"Got it," said Robin, turning to the rest of the group. "Cyborg and I will begin searching the rooms at the far end of the stadium. Terra and Beast Boy, you take the rooms to the right, Starfire and Raven, the rooms to the left. When we're done, we'll meet up down on the field. If you find anyone, don't engage until you've called the other members of the team."

Robin hadn't given Red X his instructions, but the thief knew what to do... team up with one of the groups and join in their search. He chose Beast Boy and Terra before Robin had even stopped talking.

"Come on," said Red X, gesturing for Beast Boy and Terra to follow him as the other two pairs made their way through the turnstiles. "We'd better get started... this place gets pretty creepy at night."

In the sky above the stadium, the sun was already beginning to set... by the time the groups made their way back down to the field, it would likely be night... and with no one to turn the stadium lights on, it would probably be very dark.

So Beast Boy and Terra followed Red X... they both trusted him, and Terra trusted him completely... though she knew that Slade had been talking to the thief, she believed that he would refuse any order he'd been given... and that he posed no threat to the team, or to their mission.

She had no idea that inside Red X's mind raged a battle not entirely unlike the one she'd faced herself when trying to decide whether or not to betray the Titans. But unlike Terra, who had no one else to protect, no threat from Slade but to herself should she decide to disobey, Red X had to make a horrific decision... his family, or the Titans? Or more specifically, his family or Terra?

O-O-O

Starfire and Raven quickly made their way to the left side of the stadium, and after going behind the stands into the building's inner corridors, they found themselves inside a large, mostly-empty room, its corners lined with spider webs, a few scattered items of weightlifting equipment still lying about.

"So... if the Brotherhood of Evil is hiding here, where might they be?" asked Starfire, walking over to a padded bench and taking a seat. She looked behind her and saw several large weights stacked up between two tall white bars, each of them weighing a hundred pounds. _"Oh... this is a curious device... I believe we have something like it at the Tower..."_

"I'm not sure," replied Raven, facing away from Starfire. "But they're definitely not in here... we should move on."

She turned to see her Tamaranian friend effortlessly and repeatedly bench-pressing 1,200 pounds, her arms and legs moving as casually as a normal person who was sitting up in an easy chair.

"Raven, you should try this... it is not quite as difficult as the devices we have at home, but perhaps you will find it challenging..."

"Starfire, we don't have time for games, Robin gave us a mission, and-"

But Starfire, unwilling to take no for an answer, stood up and walked over to Raven, gently pushing her toward the weight bench and laying her down against her will.

"Please, try it just once... we have plenty of time, I promise you will find it quite amusing!"

Starfire's friendly, yet pushy attempts to get Raven to attempt bench-pressing annoyed the gray-skinned half-demoness quite a bit... but if it would only take a few seconds to shut her friend up, Raven decided that it was worth the time. She took the plastic bar of the device in her hand and began to lurch forward... but was unable to budge the large stack of weights even a tiny bit.

"You see?" asked Raven, her hands still tightly gripped around the bar as she struggled and strained against the weights. "I... I can't do it! Now can we please-"

"You almost have it, just keep trying, I know that you will get it!" Starfire gave Raven an encouraging smile, and Raven tried once more to pull the weights. The gray skin of her hands turned completely white as she pulled with everything she had. Sweat began pouring down her face, and when it was clear that Raven's efforts were beginning to cause her a great deal of pain, Starfire's smile disappeared. "All right, you can stop now-"

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!" Focusing a huge amount of dark energy into her arms and upper body, Raven tugged on the weights with all of her might, forcefully enough to send the huge slabs of metal up through the bar holding them in place. The top of the machine broke, and the bench that Raven was lying on collapsed, sending both it and her to the ground, the weights coming down two seconds later, about six inches behind her head with a loud thud. Starfire let out a gasp, while Raven just stared up at her, an _extremely _annoyed look on her face. "Now can we go to the next room?"

"Yes... let us do that now."

Raven stood up and brushed herself off, wiping the sweat from her brow and putting her hood back up over her head. She walked out of the room without a word, Starfire following close behind her.

"I... I was very impressed by the way you-"

"Not now, Starfire," said Raven coldly, leading her Tamaranian friend down the hall until they could see another large door to their right. "The next time you see something that looks fun, I want you to pinch yourself on the arm until the urge to play with it goes away, got it?"

"I will certainly do that!" said Starfire cheerfully. "By the way, may I ask you... when Red X came to the Tower today, did he say anything interesting?"

The two girls entered the next room, another large, mostly empty room that used to be a therapy center for members of the football team. One of the beds still remained, and in the corner of the room was a large, empty tub that was once a therapeutic whirlpool that the players used to ease the pain in their joints after a long game. Other than the bed, the room was empty... no sign of the Brotherhood or their minions. Instead of leaving the room, Raven walked over and sat down on the side of the bed, gesturing for Starfire to come join her.

"But... I thought you said-"

"We don't have time to play around, but this isn't playing, you wanted me to talk about Red X, and that's relevant to the mission, so..."

Starfire walked over and sat down next to Raven quickly, placing her hands in her lap and listening to what her friend had to say.

"He said that he didn't come to help us... he came to help Terra," said Raven, looking into Starfire's eyes as she spoke. "He's... grown close to her."

"I see..." replied Starfire, knowing exactly what Raven meant by 'close'. _"He feels for her the same way I feel about Robin..."_

Starfire had begun to notice Red X's feelings during their final mission to eliminate Sedaris... during the team's fight with his minions on the top of the oil platform, Terra and the thief had interacted in ways very similar to how she and Robin would during their early battles together... there was a certain way that their eyes met, a certain tone in their voices when they spoke with one another... and while she sensed it first in Red X, she could also tell that Terra had similar feelings... because she spoke with him the exact same way that she spoke with Beast Boy.

"Could he be... trying to protect her from Slade? Is that why he wishes to team up with us again?"

"It may be," replied Raven, "because when I tried reading his thoughts, all I could sense were thoughts about Terra... and... something else. It was faint, but... it was a great uncertainty. Beast Boy and Terra both have the same patterns... Beast Boy's feelings for both me and Terra, and Terra's feelings for Beast Boy and X."

"So... could it be that Red X has feelings for both Terra and... me?" Starfire blushed slightly, knowing full well that she and Red X had a very complex history together, a love-hate relationship leaning more toward love than hate, as Starfire's kindness and capacity to forgive made her care about Red X even when he was stealing, or when he was fighting against the team.

"I'm not sure... the patterns were the same, but... there was something else... I wish I'd gotten more time to probe his thoughts, but I was too busy running point for the mission today."

Raven stood up from the bed, knowing that she had to return to the mission as soon as possible... the sooner she did, the sooner she could get back to studying Red X's mind. Starfire stood up as well, expecting the conversation to end a bit later than it did... but also realizing that she and Raven still had a job to do.

The cloaked girl exited the room, not saying a word, and hoping that Starfire would follow her while asking any more questions that she might have. It came as a bit of a surprise to Raven when Starfire followed her silently... but she could read her alien friend's thoughts exceedingly well.

_"I know you're worried about him, Starfire... worried that Slade might be manipulating him even now... but... I think this time might be different. I think he cares too much about Terra to allow himself to be ordered around by Slade again."_

But Starfire was still worried... she knew that even when Red X had cared about _her_, he'd still tried to attack the team... and even though he eventually turned on Slade in the end, the Tamaranian couldn't help but wonder if this time, Slade's threats were just too strong for the thief to ignore.

O-O-O

And on the other side of the building, Red X was wondering the same thing.

_"Can I afford to call Slade's bluff...? To let my mom and sister be put in danger again? ...what would Terra think if I betrayed _her_?"_

Beast Boy and Terra, along with Red X, were searching one of the locker rooms, checking each and every locker for any evidence they could find about the Brotherhood's activities.

"Yuck..." said Terra quietly, inaudible to Beast Boy in the back of the locker room, but clearly able to be heard by Red X, who was standing right next to her. "This place still smells like sweaty socks... it's disgusting."

"Tell me about it," replied Red X, letting out a sigh. "This mask lets everything through..."

Terra turned to the thief and smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder and slowly sliding it up toward the gap between the mask and his neck.

"Then why don't you... just take it off?" asked Terra. "Everybody in here already knows who you are."

Red X reached over and took Terra's hand, placing it down at her side before she could lift the mask from his face.

"What if somebody else comes in and sees me? There are only about a dozen people who know who I really am, and I'd like to keep it that way... _as flattered as I am that you think I'm handsome... that _is _why you want me to take the mask off, right?_"

Terra and X both shot a glance toward the back of the room, where Beast Boy was still checking in lockers, going from right to left until he disappeared from view behind a wall. As soon as he did, X took the opportunity to sit down on a bench, glad that Beast Boy was volunteering to do all the work. Terra walked over and sat down next to him, though she felt a lot more guilty than Red X did about letting Beast Boy check all the lockers himself.

"Oh, don't feel too bad for him... as scrawny as he is, he needs the exercise anyway."

X's comment earned him a playful elbow from Terra. While she didn't like him poking fun at her friends, especially one she cared about as much as Beast Boy, she did have to admit that he had a sense of humor almost as good as the changeling's... if a lot more cruel.

"Your arms are just as scrawny as his, you know..." said Terra, "although..."

Her eyes drifted down to X's stomach, where a noticeable six-pack was clearly visible through the skin-tight costume... a six-pack earned through months of strenuous training, combat and otherwise.

"You wanna feel it, go right ahead," said Red X, chuckling to himself. "You know, Terra... you're not gonna find a body like this on Beast Boy."

Terra knew _exactly _what Red X was doing... and it was starting to annoy her. It wasn't his body that she even found most attractive about him, though that was a nice bonus. It was the fact that she could relate to him, that she could talk to him about _anything _and that he wouldn't judge her... and when she needed it, that he would always be there to get her out of trouble.

"Beast Boy's different... he's funny, he's sweet, he has so much confidence in me... he's the only one who always believed in me, no matter what... even when I betrayed the team..." Terra bowed her head sadly, her eyes reflecting her intense guilt... a guilt that she still carried within her. "You know I can't just... I can't..."

"I understand."

But as much as Red X wanted Terra to be happy, happy with _whoever _she decided to give her heart to... he desperately wanted her to choose him, and was devastated every time it seemed that she still loved Beast Boy more. He knew that he was putting her through hell every time he pressured her to love him, but unlike Starfire, Terra had genuine feelings for him, feelings that he could see in her face, could hear in her voice, could feel in her touch... and he didn't want to see those feelings go away.

"It's empty, there's no sign of the Brotherhood anywhere," said Beast Boy, walking back over to the bench and looking down at Red X and Terra. "We'd better get back down to the field... the others are probably waiting for us."

Red X and Terra both stood up at the same time, trying to pretend as if they hadn't been talking to one another... but Beast Boy knew exactly what they'd been doing while he'd been checking the lockers.

He wasn't angry... not at Red X or at Terra. He couldn't be... especially when he knew that his feelings were also split between two people... but if he _did _lose Terra, if she ended up with Red X... how difficult would it be for him to get Raven, who barely even gave him the time of day, to agree to any sort of romantic relationship?

He already knew that Terra loved him... and knew that he loved her as well. Wasn't that the end of it? Weren't they made for one another?

Sometimes life could be so complicated...

O-O-O

Sure enough, by the time the Titans made it back out onto the football field, the sun had disappeared from the sky, leaving in its place the navy blue color of twilight. The three groups converged at the middle of the field, where the all-but faded center logo of Jump City University's football team could be seen beneath their feet.

"No sign of the Brotherhood anywhere," said Robin, and the rest of the team quickly confirmed his story.

"Raven and I found no one either..." Starfire said.

"Not even a trace of Brotherhood activity... I guess they don't even plan to visit this place until tomorrow night," said Beast Boy, looking over at Robin.

"Then we'll just have to come back then," replied the Boy Wonder to the rest of his team. "We'll catch them all in one place... it'll be a difficult fight, but-"

Just then, a faint booming noise could be heard on three different sides of the stadium... getting louder and louder every second, and accompanied by a slight tremor that grew in intensity along with the sound.

"What... is that?" said Raven, looking around and trying to sense exactly what was coming toward the stadium.

"Three lifeforms, coming right toward the stadium..." Cyborg's scanners confirmed that _something _was coming, but what exactly, he didn't yet know... all he did know was that it was something big. "Everybody brace yourselves!"

The Titans and Red X got into fighting stances, and it was the thief who was the first to realize the significance of what was happening... Slade had told him that _something _would be coming for the Titans, but what exactly... he didn't say. All he had said was that sometime during the battle, X was to betray the team... now it seemed, that battle was about to begin.

The sounds got louder and louder, and the shaking more and more prominent, until the Titans and X could hear three distinct sounds of crashing... two from the northwest and northeast ends of the stadium, and one from the front gate... and it was at the front gate that the team got their very first look at one of the things that was coming.

"CINDERBLOCK!" As the massive stone beast pushed its way through the turnstiles, Robin faced it down, holding his extended bo staff out in front of his face... but just as Cinderblock was coming into the stadium, the Titans could see two whole sections of the stands begin to collapse... and then, two more monsters walking out onto the field.

The glowing electrical beast Overload, and the sickening purple terror Plasmus... the Titans were surrounded by three of their most dangerous foes.

"Looks like the welcome wagon came a bit late... or these guys are just a day early," said Cyborg, looking around at the triple threat that he and his team were now facing.

"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" asked Terra, already levitating on a piece of ground about a foot above the surface of the field. "Let's kick some butt!"

But the three monsters did not attack... they stood at the edges of the field, seemingly waiting for a cue to strike... and then, across from the front gate, in the stands looking down on the opposite end zone, someone else emerged from a luxury suite, his arms behind his back, his eyes staring down at the Titans on the field.

It was Slade.

"I see all of you followed the clues... and that the clues have brought you here," said Slade, looking down at the group and paying special attention to Terra, whose eyes were now wide in a horrified stare. "Ah yes, my... _former _apprentice. I can't say that it's pleasant to see you again, but it is nice to know that I will finally be able to witness my revenge... in the form of your demise."

Terra's fearful expression faded, transforming into an angry, hateful scowl, her gloved fists clenched tight in front of her chest as she looked into Slade's eyes with pure contempt.

"This time I'm putting you away for good, Slade! I swear I'll never let you hurt anyone else again!"

For the first time, Red X could hear the determination in Terra's voice, the absolute loathing that she held for a man that she once called 'master'... and his admiration for the blonde geomancer grew even more.

_"She hates him even more than I do..."_

"Slade! You coward... if you wanted to fight us, you could've done it yourself!" shouted Robin, equally angry at the masked criminal mastermind. "Sending these creatures shows just how spineless you really are!"

"Come on now, Robin... do not confuse intelligence with cowardice. I can't fight the seven of you alone... but I know something that can."

Slade held his arm up to his face, pressing one of the buttons on the control console that he wore on his wrist. Suddenly, devices that had been affixed to the backs of all three monsters began to glow... and they roared in unison, their bodies beginning to converge in a swirling, coalescing mass of energy above the Titans' heads at the center of the field. Terra, the only one who had seen this process firsthand, gasped in horror and immediately ran toward the front of the field, gesturing to her friends to do the same.

"All of you have to move, right now! They're going to fuse together!"

As the Titans ran, the transformation process continued, until a new creature began to form at the center of the field... nearly a hundred feet tall, its imposing form a combination of stone rigidity, fluid sludge, and glowing electrical energy... a chimera of horrifically dangerous proportions.

"Titans, say hello once more to... Ternion!"

The completed beast roared once again, loud enough to crumble several more sections of the badly-damaged stands. It then flung both of its arms forward, extending them toward the Titans, their stone and electrical components adding dangerous power to Plasmus' incredible flexibility. The group quickly parted to avoid the fists, which impacted the ground and created an enormous rift in the southern end zone, Robin, Starfire, and Terra on one side, and Red X, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven on the other. By the time the monster had pulled its fists back toward its body, Slade had already disappeared, likely fading back into the shadows of the luxury suite from which he'd came.

"We beat this thing once, and we can beat it again!" said Robin, rushing toward Ternion while twirling his bo staff at a very rapid speed. "And this time it'll be much easier!"

"That's right," said Beast Boy, looking at Red X and Terra. "Last time we fought this thing, I was saving _you_, Terra... and you and Red X weren't even around to fight it at all!"

The terrible memories that had resurfaced as an effect of seeing both Ternion and Slade were troubling Terra deeply, and she had to sit down for a moment to try and purge them from her mind. Immediately, Beast Boy reached down to help her back up, while Red X watched them both to make sure that Terra would be okay.

"I'll be fine, Beast Boy..." said Terra quietly, standing up along with her friend. "Right now we have to beat that thing so we can go after Slade!"

Starfire and Raven were already in the air, Starfire using her eye lasers while Raven tossed several dark energy blasts the creature's way. Ternion roared in pain as the blasts exploded against his body, reacting violently by swatting one of its arms at the two female Titans. The two were brought down quickly, both of them slamming into the ground just behind Cyborg, who was running around Ternion, trying to dodge its attacks while at the same time aiming several plasma blasts at its stomach.

Meanwhile, Robin had reached the creature's right leg, and was taking several swings with his bo staff, knocking off a bit of sludge each time. In his fury, he didn't notice that he was being slowly absorbed into Ternion's leg... and by the time he realized he was being pulled in, it was too late for him to get away. He gave a loud, muffled scream as several sludge tentacles absorbed him into Ternion's body, then disappeared completely from view.

"HEY!" shouted Red X, running toward Ternion while holding two Xs in each of his hands. "You wanna absorb someone, try to absorb me!"

The thief threw out all four Xs, which combined to form a huge field of electricity that swept right into Ternion's chest. The huge beast gave out a roar of pain, stumbling back as the blue electricity from Overload's components was shorted out by the red electricity from X's Xynothium energy field. After a few seconds, however, it shrugged off the blow and threw up an enormous amount of sludge, forming a large wave of filth that washed over Cyborg, Red X, Starfire, Raven, and a charging Beast Boy, who had transformed into a gazelle and suddenly found himself rushing headlong into a wave of purple goo.

Even Terra had trouble dodging the sludge wave, rising above it on a large chunk of ground and raising her arms, lifting up the section of turf that Ternion was standing on high into the air. Before she could drop it, Ternion simply phased through the turf, reforming underneath it. This had the effect of releasing Robin, who fell to the ground in a gasping, coughing heap next to Cyborg, and also had the effect of placing Ternion's head right under the huge section of rock that Terra had lifted it up on. Smiling, she dropped the rock right on the monster's head, temporarily dazing it and giving her fellow Titans the precious seconds that they needed to recover.

"Nice shot, Terra!" shouted Cyborg, giving her a thumbs-up and a smile as he rose up out of the sludge. Starfire also gave her a smile, and even Raven gave her an encouraging look of approval. Terra found her confidence returning with every second, and even as Ternion recovered from the blow it had taken, she found a new fighting spirit welling up within her body.

"Now we just have to finish it off!" said Terra, throwing several more small boulders Ternion's way. The monster gave an angry roar and swatted down the boulders, only to find itself being bombarded by a series of explosive Xs, creating a line-shaped burst of fire that ripped across the beast's chest. Starfire flew right at the newly vulnerable area, throwing punches and kicks into the gash that X's bombs had made. She aimed for the rocky Cinderblock components, careful to aim away from the purple sludge that represented Plasmus' contribution to Ternion's frame. The blows did even more to weaken Ternion, which stumbled back toward the northern end zone, angrily spewing electricity from its mouth that caught Raven and Terra in mid-flight. The two girls screamed, plummeting toward the ground near the middle of the field.

With a loud gasp, Beast Boy transformed into an eagle, taking flight and catching the two girls before they hit the surface of the field. They smiled at one another, then Terra smiled up at Beast Boy, giving him a thumbs-up.

While this was going on, Robin and Cyborg were launching a tandem attack at Ternion's legs, hoping to knock it off of its massive feet. The beast wobbled, but did not fall, and Robin could see that Ternion was beginning to heal the large gash in its chest.

"STARFIRE, GET OUT OF THERE!"

"I got her, kid, you just keep whaling away at its legs," said Red X, shooting out a glowing red chain from his right hand and catching Starfire around her waist, pulling her out just before Ternion re-sealed the gap in its chest. Letting out another loud roar, the mighty monster began ripping up sections of stands and hurling them down toward the field, creating a dangerous environment for Robin and Cyborg as they continued to fire their combined attacks at Ternion's thighs. Ignoring the two Titans' attacks on its legs, Ternion walked over and ripped out an enormous section of bleachers, a fifty-foot long, twenty-ton chunk of wood and concrete. With one motion of its arms, Ternion snapped the bleachers in half and hurled both chunks down toward the field... right toward Robin and Cyborg, obliviously continuing to hack away at Ternion's lower section.

By the time Robin noticed the growing shadow beneath his feet, it was too late. He looked up and saw a huge piece of concrete falling down on him with lethal force... and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

_"Shit...!!!" _He gasped and let out a scream, only to be tackled out of the way at the last moment, landing just a few feet away from the huge piece of concrete with Starfire on top of him, her arms wrapped around his waist. "Starfire... thank-"

But he couldn't finish his sentence, because almost immediately, her lips were pressing down on his, muffling his protests that Starfire had to let him up so they could finish the fight. By the time the kiss was over, five seconds later, he was completely speechless, his face glowing red.

"I was... so worried about you... and I am so thankful that you are undamaged."

A short distance away, Red X had saved Cyborg by slicing into four pieces the section of bleachers that was about to smash him. X now looked down at the stunned Cyborg, whose attention had briefly been focused on Robin and Starfire's tender moment.

"If you're expecting a kiss, you can just forget it," said the thief, turning back toward Ternion with his arms crossed over his chest.

Having run out of bleachers to throw without seriously jeopardizing the structural integrity of Slade's luxury box, Ternion gave another loud roar and pounded its chest with its fists. The Titans once again re-grouped, getting into battle formation and readying themselves for one final strike on the massive beast.

"I say we hit it with everything we have, our strongest attacks, all at once!" shouted Cyborg, looking at the rest of his teammates. "What do you say, huh?"

The Titans nodded in agreement, and Robin in particular was ready to put Ternion away once and for all.

"You heard Cyborg, hit it with everything you've got!"

Starfire and Raven flew into the air once more, bombarding Ternion with a combination of eye lasers and waves of arcane magic. Cyborg used his most powerful concussion blasts on Ternion's legs, while Robin began winding his Birdcable around them in an attempt to trip up the massive monster and bring it to the ground.

"Climb on my back and hit Ternion up close!" said Beast Boy, transforming into a pterodactyl. Terra nodded in agreement, and got on, letting out an excited yell as Beast Boy lifted up and began flying around Ternion, allowing Terra to chuck small rocks at its head and arms from very close range. While all of this was going on, Red X sliced through Ternion with large, X-shaped blades, forcing it to regenerate itself constantly. The state of flux began to weaken Ternion, while the intense pain from being slashed so many times distracted the monster from countering the Titans' numerous attacks.

Finally, Robin finished getting his Birdcables around Ternion's legs. He got behind the beast and began throwing bombs at its back in an effort to push it over. Starfire, seeing that Robin had been successful in tangling up Ternion, stood next to him and added her explosive support, only with Starbolts instead of bombs. Raven flew around to the front of Ternion, descending to the ground and launching blasts at the beast's massive green eyes, while Cyborg, Terra, and Red X continued their constant assault.

After less than a minute, the combined attacks had taken their toll, and Ternion began to fall, letting out one last roar. Beast Boy descended to the ground, letting Terra off of his back before detransforming. Cyborg stepped aside, while Red X kept his distance as well... leaving Raven as the only one close enough to get smashed.

The half-demoness was ready. She raised up her arms and began to charge up an enormous blast, one that she knew would be powerful enough to separate Ternion back into its component parts: Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload. Her eyes and hands began to glow.

_"This is it..." _thought Red X, watching Raven intently. _"This is the end of the fight..."_

"Azarath, metreon, ZIN-"

Raven's mantra was suddenly stopped cold, replaced by muffled gibberish as a sticky X sealed her lips. Horrified, she looked up to see Ternion falling down on top of her... and, unable to say her focusing chant, there was nothing she could do. She closed her eyes and...

Ternion fell upon Raven with a sickening crash.

"RAVEN!!!" screamed a horrified Beast Boy, looking over at Red X, whose right palm was extended toward where Raven was once standing. Ignoring Beast Boy, he turned toward Robin and Starfire. Robin was clearly enraged.

"Sanza, how could you betray-" Several explosive Xs ripped across both him and Starfire, sending up a massive cloud of smoke and tossing them both back into the stands. X then turned toward Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Terra, who were stunned that the thief they'd trusted had betrayed them so suddenly.

"I'm sorry, but... _familia _comes first," said the thief, firing two Xs at Beast Boy and Cyborg. The Xs transformed into binding cables, which wrapped around the arms of both Titans, pinning them to their sides and causing them both to lose their balance and fall over. Now, Terra was the last Titan standing... and she didn't know what to think. She stood in stunned horror, her mouth wide open, her fists clenched, her legs trembling.

"S...Sanza... I thought... I thought...!!!" the geomancer was on the verge of tears, and she could barely even look Red X in the eye anymore... she glanced up at Slade, who had re-emerged from his luxury box and was now looking down at the field with a satisfied smirk beneath his mask. "Why are you doing this...!?"

"Because I told him to," replied Slade. "Now finish them off."

With a loud, angry yell, Cyborg burst through the metallic bands holding his arms to his sides. He rushed at Red X and threw several punches, which the thief dodged almost effortlessly, extending his wrist blades and lunging forward to slash at Cyborg's chest. The first blade swiped across the metal, sending out sparks and creating a long scrape. Cyborg was able to dodge the second blade, and he brought up his knee, slamming it into Red X's gut and knocking the thief's wind out, sending him stumbling back.

"I told you, I don't want to do this...!" gasped Red X, leaping back and hitting Cyborg with three exploding Xs to knock him away. He then ran at Terra... but instead of striking her, he ran past her, kicking a newly-freed Beast Boy in the chest before he could transform. He then turned back toward Terra, pointing his palms at her, which were beginning to glow. "Get out of here... I don't want to fight you, and I know you don't want to fight me!"

Terra was still trembling, but the shock had begun to fade from her expression... in its place was anger, anger that Sanza... not Red X, but _Sanza_, whom had once told her that he would NEVER work for Slade, had betrayed both her and the team. After everything he said to her, after he promised that he would protect her... now this, this betrayal... Sanza was working for the person whom they both hated the most.

"Yes... yes, I do..." sobbed Terra, streams of tears making their way down both sides of her face. "If you're working for Slade, then... I do want to fight you... I WILL fight you... I won't let you-"

A Bird-a-rang flew past Terra, zooming right at Red X's head. He raised up one of his wrist blades and deflected it, only to see another, closely followed by Robin, flying his way. He deflected the other Bird-a-rang and saw a rain of Starbolts now flying down toward him, accompanied by Starfire, who was flying just above Robin's head. He formed a Xynothium energy shield to block the Starbolts, then began to engage Robin in hand-to-hand combat, quickly taking several blows to the face and chest for his trouble. He stumbled back, firing an X that Robin merely punched through on his way to landing a staggering blow that caught the thief right in the nose, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"I KNEW IT!" Robin screamed, extending his bo staff and pointing it at Red X's face. "I KNEW THAT YOU WERE WORKING FOR SLADE!"

Terra, and even Starfire, were taken aback by Robin's fury... it was only the latest in a series of duplicitous attacks aimed at the Titans by the skillful thief... and the Boy Wonder was through playing games.

"You should know as well as anyone why I'm doing it, Robin... he's going to kill my family if I-"

"We can protect them!" shouted Robin.

"Did you protect them three nights ago? DID YOU? No... no, my sister nearly had her throat slashed because you and your friends didn't show up... my family had to fight off all those Sladebots by ourselves... so don't even _start _to give me that fucking bullshit about you being able to protect them, because you CAN'T!"

_"That's right, Sanza..." _thought Slade, watching the fight from above in silent glee. _"They can't protect your family, and neither can you... the only way to save them is to serve me."_

As Robin searched for something to say, the Titans could hear a loud roar from behind them. They looked toward the north end zone, where Ternion was beginning to rise, its pain-racked body slowly pulling up from the turf. Rain was beginning to fall upon the field, soaking Ternion, the Titans, and Red X... and beneath Ternion's battered body was Raven, the X still plastered over her lips... she was unconscious, and didn't appear to be breathing... but before anyone could come to her aid, Ternion let out another roar, and electricity burst forth from its mouth, spraying Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire, and bringing them to their knees.

Terra, the only one whom the lightning hadn't hit, could see Raven's dire condition, and, despite the anger she was feeling toward Red X, put all of that aside, at least temporarily, and dashed across the field toward Ternion and Raven. She fell to her knees beside her blue-haired friend, and in one mighty tug, pulled the X from her lips. As soon as it was off, Raven let out a loud gasp, then began to cough, expelling a small amount of purple sludge from her throat. She gave a weak groan and sat up, and Terra wrapped her arms around Raven from behind, holding her close while looking across the field, directly into Red X's eyes. Her own eyes conveyed the tremendous hurt that she felt because of Red X's betrayal, and even through the rain, X could see tears coming down her face. Ternion, whose energy had been completely expelled by its electrical attack, hovered over Raven and Terra, breathing as laboriously as Raven was, if not even more so. A huge bolt of lightning streaked through the sky, accompanied by a burst of thunder that shook the entire stadium.

"What are you waiting for?" shouted Slade to his apprentice below. "The Titans are weakened, now is the moment to finish them off!"

Red X wordlessly walked to the center of the field, until he was directly across from Raven and Terra... while Raven continued to recover in Terra's arms, Terra stared directly into Red X's eyes. She said nothing... just continued to give him the same, regretful glare that she'd been giving him for the past minute.

_"Do it, Sanza... if you want to work for Slade, then... finish us off..."_

Red X looked at Terra... then at Slade, and then at Terra again. Another lightning bolt appeared, filling the sky with brilliant white light.

_"Mom... Maddy... I... I just want you to be safe... that's all I want... isn't it...?"_

The thief could barely stand now, his legs trembling violently beneath him. Around him were four of the Teen Titans: Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, their bodies twitching and paralyzed from Ternion's attack... they were completely at Red X's mercy. In Terra's arms, Raven was still trying to catch her breath... her entire body in tremendous pain from having been crushed by all of Ternion's weight. The only Titan in any shape to fight now was Terra... but alone, she would be no match for Slade and Ternion, even if she did somehow manage to defeat Red X in the exhausted state that she was in.

Red X's palms began to glow. He lifted his arms and began charging up energy into his hands, focusing the Xynothium energy from the reactor in his suit to the nodules in his hands that allowed the energy to be concentrated and fired. He pulled back his hands and looked directly into Terra's eyes.

_"I'm sorry."_

He then fired a tremendous beam of Xynothium energy, forward, but at a slightly upward angle. It flew past Terra and Raven and slammed into Ternion's chest, immediately punching a hole through the center of the beast, who let out a tremendous roar and exploded in a bright flash that sent the unconscious bodies of Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload flying into the stands.

The energy continued on until it reached Slade, slamming into his chest and throwing him backward into the luxury box, which disappeared instantly in a violent, blood-red explosion of fire and light. The downed Titans all gave various looks of surprise, while Terra let out a gasp... before curving her lips into a slight smile.

"Sanza..." she whispered, looking into his eyes with an expression of both gratitude and relief. "I should have known..."

Red X lowered his hands and glanced up at the luxury box, which had been completely destroyed, along with a large section of the stands. In the center of the rubble was Slade, smoke rising from his body. He was on one knee, still alive, still conscious... and extremely unhappy. He slowly picked himself up off the ground and saw Red X walking toward him. Letting out a cry of anger, Slade thrust his fist forward at X's face, only to have the thief catch his wrist and respond with a punch of his own that knocked Slade back a step.

"How dare you!" shouted Slade, who would have punched at Red X again had he not seen the Teen Titans getting up one-by-one behind him on the field. Restraining his anger, Slade looked down into Red X's eyes, his voice quickly calming... he was still angry, but it was a quiet rage... a rage that Sanza knew all too well. "Your family will suffer for this... I will-"

"You son of a bitch, if you lay one hand on my family ever again, I swear by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that I will break every fucking bone in your body!" shouted X, not showing even an ounce of intimidation. Slade didn't move an inch... he simply chuckled, knowing that Sanza wouldn't be nearly this brave without the Titans standing right behind him.

"You're not serious," said Slade, prompting Red X to reach up and quickly take off his mask, letting Slade look right into Sanza's angry, hazel eyes.

"I'm _deadly _serious."

This war of words was getting Slade nowhere, and it was clear that with Ternion defeated and his prospects of gaining a third apprentice quickly fading, that he had lost the battle.

But there would be another day... and Sanza and the Titans would suffer, Slade would make sure of that. He turned and exited the wrecked stadium, disappearing into a grove of trees a short distance away. Sanza watched Slade leave, then turned back toward the Titans, who didn't know what to think.

It seemed that Sanza had adamantly refused to work for Slade... but then again, this could all be an act, a rehearsed display of rage designed to bring Sanza and the Titans even closer... and if it was, Robin wasn't buying it for a second.

"Tell me... why I should trust you... after you attacked us, and nearly got Raven killed!"

More lightning, and a loud crash of thunder that punctuated Robin's words. Before any of the other Titans could chime in, Terra, who had been on an emotional roller coaster in the past few minutes, stepped forward and placed her hand on Sanza's shoulder. She looked up into his eyes and smiled, then turned back toward the rest of the team.

"I... I think... no, I _know _we can trust him... he wants to take down Slade just as much as I do, I know he can help us fight him AND the Brotherhood of Evil!"

"I... I trust Sanza too," said Beast Boy, though he looked only slightly less unsure than the rest of his team. "After he said all that stuff to Slade, I... I don't think there's any way he would've said that if he was still Slade's apprentice, I mean..."

"This all could have been planned out, just like when Slade attacked the Tower with those earthmoving worms to get us to trust Terra! He knows EXACTLY how Sanza acts, how he thinks, and what he can do to mess with our minds... and after Sanza betrayed us today, there's no way that I'm-"

"Look," said Sanza, gently nudging Terra aside and taking several steps toward Robin, though stopping before he got anywhere near the volatile Boy Wonder. "I hate Slade, I want to take him out... and because he's working with the Brotherhood of Evil, I want to take them out too. And because you guys have made that your number one priority, I'm willing to work with you until we wipe all of them off the face of the Earth."

Robin still wasn't convinced, and an angry scowl was still quite visible on his face. Sanza continued.

"Now, if you trust me, then we can work together to take all those bastards down... but if you don't, then you can just go to hell... and you'll see Slade when you get there, because if you won't let me help you, then I'll just eliminate Slade myself."

Sanza turned away from the Titans before they could give their response, walking back toward the large hole he'd made in the north end of the stadium. Instead of giving Sanza a definitive answer, Robin simply called the Titans back with him toward the southern gate. He would have to sleep on the issue of Red X... he'd seen and done far too much that day for him to be in any sort of shape to make any serious decisions. The rest of the team followed him back without a word... but Terra stayed behind, and ran over to Sanza to stop him before he could leave. He turned around, and Terra wrapped him up in a tight embrace, her arms looping together around his back and pulling him close.

"Sanza..." she whispered quietly, looking up into his eyes as she pulled out of the hug. "If... if you need someone to help you protect Maria and Maddy, just... call me... no matter what I'm doing, I'll-"

"It's all right, Terra... they're my family, it's my responsibility to make sure they're safe..." He reached up and touched Terra's cheek, his gloved hand wiping the rain and tears away from her face. "I'm sorry, Terra... I was really confused, and... I didn't know what I should do... not until I saw you... now I know... I have to... I have to..."

"Sanza... I know exactly how you feel."

She gave him one last smile before turning and running over to join the rest of her team, leaving Sanza to walk home in the rain. He put his mask back on and began to walk back toward the city... the rain didn't bother him so much when he was in his costume... what did bother him was what he'd now committed himself to doing.

_"I have to protect mom, Maddy, AND Terra... okay, God, I'm _really _gonna need Your help on this one..."_

O-O-O

When Sanza got back to his apartment, he was somewhat relieved to see that his family was all right. His sister was sleeping, and his mother was watching television in the living room...

Had Slade truly been intimidated by Sanza's threat?

_"Of course not... he didn't budge an inch, he could've snapped my neck if he wanted to... obviously he has some other plan in mind... but for now, I just have to be grateful that my family is safe."_

Maria and Sanza spoke for a while in the kitchen... Sanza had told Maria _everything_, except for the part about the swearing... he had enough to worry about without his mother jamming three bars of soap into his mouth.

"Sanza... you know I'd much rather you work with the Titans to stop Slade than work with him to protect us... it's just... it's not me I'm worried about, it's your sister Maddy..."

As a loving mother, Maria would sacrifice herself in a heartbeat to protect her children... she'd much rather allow Slade to attack her than for him to attack her daughter, or for her son to be a criminal.

But of course, Slade hurting either Maddy _or _Maria was unacceptable in Sanza's eyes.

"Mom... I promise, I'm gonna take out Slade and protect you both... please... please just trust me..."

"Of course I trust you... I believe in you, Sanza, but... I still worry..."

A few seconds went by without either Salazar saying a word... then, Maria gently moved forward, kissing her son on the lips before kissing him again on the forehead and wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. She was afraid... afraid that Sanza's refusal to serve Slade might endanger both Sanza _and _her daughter Maddy... but she believed in her son, she knew that he was strong and knew that he would fight to protect the people he loved... and that she would as well.

_"Mom... I swear to you... and to Maddy... I won't let you down..."_

O-O-O

Back in the warehouse across town, in the small office where he had watched tapes of Sanza's rescue of Terra and his battle with Sedaris, Slade was _angry_. No... he was furious.

_"Sanza... it has become increasingly obvious to me that there is nothing that I can do to force you to be my apprentice... threats against you, threats against your family, all have failed... but there is still one thing that I can do to make you suffer."_

He watched the tape again, watched Red X shatter Terra's glass prison, pull her down... and he watched as the two of them glanced into each other's eyes.

_"My two most recent apprentices... both of you dared to defy me... both of you will suffer dearly."_

Slade turned off the television and turned away from the screen, facing the wall and once again smiling to himself beneath his mask.

_"And all I will have to do to make you suffer... is to make _her _suffer, Sanza... perhaps once she is gone, there will be nothing standing between you and your service to me. Perhaps by destroying my second apprentice, I can finally gain my third..."_

O-O-O

And perhaps by reading my next chapter, you'll find out what happens next! So stick around... barring another catastrophic failure, chapter six will show up in just a few short days!


	6. Two Places At Once

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

The cool confines of Jinx's prison cell gave the pink-haired girl little to do but sit on her bed and wallow in boredom. The room was an enclosed square space, sixteen feet by sixteen feet, with a bed, a toilet, a sink, and little else.

"Lock me up in here, will they?" Jinx said to herself, staring up at the ceiling and letting out a sigh. "I'll make those Titans pay for this... I swear I-"

Several loud explosions from nearby shook Jinx's cell, rocking her out of bed and causing her to run over to the locked cell door. She peered out her small, plateglass window and could see smoke streaming from several cells, and nearly half a dozen guards running about in chaotic fashion. Through the smoke, Jinx could see several silhouetted figures, but had no idea who they were or what they were doing.

_"Is someone coming to bust me out...?" _thought Jinx, _"or just to burn down the prison?"_

She took a few steps back, and immediately got her answer. The door came flying off of its hinges, landing in a crumpled metallic heap at Jinx's feet. Standing in the doorway was her friend See-More, an excited look on his face.

"Someone's busting us out, there's some kinda big meeting tonight... hurry up!"

See-More's excited admonishment was more than Jinx needed. She ran out of the cell, a smile on her face as she joined in the chaos taking place outside.

"I don't care _who _busted us out," Jinx said to See-More as the two of them ran toward the smoke to re-unite with their fellow H.I.V.E. members, "but remind me to give them a big wet kiss when I see them!"

The two ran out of the prison through a large hole that had been blasted in the wall. They joined a large group of villains making their escape, and soon, Jinx was able to see just who had busted her and her friends out in the first place. Sitting in a large tank in the courtyard a short distance from the outer wall was General Immortus, a green helmet mounted on top of his wrinkled head. At seeing her elderly liberator, Jinx wrinkled her nose in disgust and turned back to See-More.

"On second thought... maybe a kiss _isn't _such a good idea..."

"You could give me the kiss you were gonna give him," See-More replied, his eye rapidly changing colors as he blinked it excitedly. Rolling her eyes, Jinx bent down and kissed See-More on top of his head. "...ahhhhhhhhh..."

As See-More drifted off into dreamland, Jinx spotted the other four members of the H.I.V.E., waiting over by the fence surrounding the prison. She gestured for See-More to follow her, then walked over and rejoined her friends.

_"Soon, the Titans will be no more..." _thought General Immortus, watching a stream of villains run past his tank on both sides. _"And the world will belong to the Brotherhood of Evil!"_

O-O-O

That afternoon at Titans Tower, Robin was still fixated on the events that had taken place the previous night... Red X had once again betrayed the team, but it seemed that now, he would no longer be working for Slade... and was willing to work with the Titans to stop him.

It was a situation that had occurred so many times before... and Robin didn't know _what _to do. But he did know one thing... his trust for Red X was as shaky as ever.

He sat in his room and had spent the good part of the day studying old film, both of the Titans' battles with Slade and their fights with Red X. The Titans been notified of the prison break that morning, but by the time they were able to get to the scene, everyone was already gone... the only clue they'd gotten was that an old man in a tank had broken out most of the inmates in the prison. After identifying the man as General Immortus, a member of the Brotherhood of Evil, the team had returned to the Tower and had gone their separate ways. Robin had spent the time alone in his room... until Starfire had entered just a few moments before.

"Robin... I believe that the Brotherhood of Evil still plans to hold a meeting of our enemies tonight at the stadium of football... despite the fact that it was nearly destroyed in our battle with Ternion."

"I'm already one step ahead of you," Robin said coldly, his eyes completely focused on the screen of his laptop computer. Security film he'd taken from Jump City University showed in black and white the battle between Red X and the Titans... the thief had been able to do a great deal of damage to the team in a very short amount of time... more damage than any person unsure about their loyalties should be able to do. "Look at Red X, right here... he takes out Raven, then immediately takes out the two of us. He did it so fast... half the team incapacitated in just a few seconds! He knew _right _where to strike!"

"Robin..." said Starfire, gently reaching out and placing her hand on Robin's shoulder. "I have spoken to both Beast Boy and Terra, and... they both believe that Red X can be trusted. I agree with them... he wishes to defeat Slade as much as we do, and-"

"Then why didn't he help us fight Slade last night?" asked Robin, quickly turning around and looking up at Starfire. "Slade was _right there... _it would have been seven on one, and if X had just helped us fight him from the start-"

"He was... unsure, Robin," said Starfire, sympathy clearly displayed in her eyes. "His family was threatened... he... he was like Terra..."

"And look what Terra did."

Robin remembered it so vividly... Terra's attack on her city, her attempts to kill the team... her attack on Starfire that had nearly cost the Tamaranian her life. After causing Robin and the rest of the team so much emotional turmoil, he hadn't even been sure that Terra could still be trusted... and knew that Red X, just like Terra, could turn at any moment.

But Starfire remembered differently. She too remembered the pain that Terra had caused to the team... but also remembered the kindness in Terra's heart, even when she'd been working with the team as a mole for Slade. She knew Terra's regret over betraying the team to be genuine, and felt nothing but forgiveness for her... and for Sanza as well. She completely understood why Sanza's loyalties would be conflicted... he loved his family very much.

"Have you decided whether or not to allow him to assist us?"

Robin said nothing... he turned back toward his screen and continued to watch the fight, his mind filled with uncertainty over whether or not to trust the thief Red X. His gut told him no, but... that was the same thing his gut told him about allowing himself to fall in love with Starfire.

_"Should I go with my gut, or... trust my heart...? It's hard to even know what my heart is trying to tell me..."_

Starfire placed her hand on Robin's shoulder once more, then turned and left the room without saying a word.

O-O-O

"Beast Boy, are you sure you trust Sanza as much as I do? I mean... you didn't look quite sure, but-"

"It's okay, Terra... if you trust him, I trust him."

Beast Boy and Terra were sitting in the geomancer's room, their legs dangling off the side of her bed as the two sat facing away from the door. For the past few minutes, they'd been discussing Sanza... and the return of Slade.

Last night, when Red X had seemingly betrayed the team, Terra had been crushed. She'd actually thought that Red X was working with Slade... and for the first time, she truly knew how Beast Boy must have felt when he realized that Terra was a traitor.

But Terra should have known better...

_"Sanza would never betray the team... even if he would, he'd never betray _me_."_

But for several minutes, she could tell that Sanza was wrestling with his conscience. Slade had made it very clear that if Sanza didn't agree to serve as his apprentice, his family's lives would be in serious jeopardy. Sanza had a terrible choice to make... serve Slade and save his family, or turn on Slade... and save Terra?

"One thing kinda bugs me, though... what exactly were you guys talking about in that locker room?" asked Beast Boy, a hint of concern on his face. "I mean, when I was digging through all those lockers looking for bad guys and stuff, you and Red X were alone on that bench, and... were you talking about me?"

Terra's eyes widened for a moment, and she was surprised that Beast Boy would bring up that subject out of the blue... but it _did _relate to Red X, and Terra didn't want to lie to Beast Boy... not again, at least."

"Well, we... kinda were, yeah," replied Terra. "I was telling him how you always make me laugh, and how you always believed in me, even after I..."

Beast Boy could tell from Terra's frown that she was about to bring up the subject of her betrayal... and he quickly placed his hand on her lower back, trying to reassure her.

"It's okay, Terra... that happened a long time ago... and... you know that's as much my fault as it is yours."

Terra bowed her head, shaking it softly... but she wasn't about to get into a debate over Beast Boy over the subject of her betrayal. She knew exactly whose fault it was... she had chosen to betray the team, she had chosen to work with Slade... all the blame lay with her, and she knew it.

"And... as for Sanza, well... I mean..."

Terra looked over at Beast Boy, knowing what he was going to say. He, like Sanza, loved Terra dearly... but he also wanted her to be happy, even while desperately wishing for that happiness to be with him.

"Beast Boy, it's okay... you know that we're..."

The two of them were now looking into each other's eyes, saying far more with their expressions than they could ever say with words. Terra knew that, while Beast Boy would be disappointed, he would still be her friend even if she did give her heart to Sanza. And Beast Boy knew that, while she still loved him, her feelings for Sanza were growing with every moment... and it was only her feelings for Beast Boy that held them back.

And Beast Boy also knew that, even if Terra did give her heart to someone else... there _was _always Raven.

Both of their minds focused on the half-demoness simultaneously, and it gave them a great way to change the subject.

"So, uh... how's Raven doing?" asked Terra, turning slightly away from Beast Boy and wrapping her hands around her knees. "I mean, that big guy fell on her pretty hard."

"Yeah, but she can heal herself, so she's doing pretty well... she went with us to the prison break this morning, didn't she?"

"Yeah," Terra mused casually, rocking back and forth as she spoke. "But she still seemed kinda sore..."

"Well, wouldn't you be sore if you had a big fat monster creep like that fall on top of you?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't even be able to walk!"

As Beast Boy and Terra made small talk about Raven, the two of them laughed and giggled, just as they had done in their very first conversations with one another, so very long ago. It seemed that that part of their relationship would never change... whether it was love or friendship, Terra and Beast Boy would never fail to make each other laugh.

O-O-O

Far from Titans Tower, in a large, X-shaped building on the edge of downtown Jump City, the Brotherhood of Evil was putting the finishing touches on their plan to initiate a massive war between heroes and villains. While Mallah and the Brain were discussing their plans in the building's central chamber, Madame Rouge had a bit of downtime... and was currently spending it with the man who had brokered the alliance between the Brotherhood and criminal mastermind Slade.

"Laura... how long has it been now, anyway? Seven years? Eight years?"

"Seven years ago next week, Derek... that's when the accident took place."

A bitter look was on Madame Rouge's face as she spoke to Derek Voscoti, the man who used to be her lover... it was nearly a decade ago that the two had met while Voscoti was on a vacation in Paris. Madame Rouge, known at the time as stage actress Laura DeMille, was the most talented and beloved actress in all of Europe. She could sing, dance, and had a gift for conveying emotion that made her talents known throughout the world. She'd met Derek backstage after one of her performances, and the two had hit it off... for nearly two years, they'd seen each other almost every day. Derek had even moved to Paris so he could live with her...

But on one tragic night, all of that ended. A speeding car struck Laura on the way to one of her performances. She suffered massive head trauma, in addition to other serious injuries, including a spinal fracture that left her a paraplegic. Derek had heard of the accident, and had gone to visit her at the hospital... but one look at her mangled, still-comatose body sent him away. He never looked back... and had never said a word to her since.

She had not taken his abandonment well.

"If you're even thinking of rekindling what we had in Paris, those days are long gone," said Rouge, a bitter, hateful look in her eyes. "This is strictly a business relationship..."

"Oh, I know that... though I will say, you've never looked more beautiful than you do now."

"If that's all you have to say to me, this conversation is over." Madame Rouge turned away from him and began walking down the hallway in the other direction... only to have him turn and follow her, walking quickly in order to catch up.

"I... I just thought you'd like to know what I've been doing all this time... I mean, I know you must've gotten some work done, these guys seem pretty smart, and-"

"Yes, they are very smart... General Immortus has millennia of combat knowledge, Monsieur Mallah is the world's only gorilla with an IQ of 176, and the Brain is... well, he's a brain. All of them are very intelligent, and the Brain is the one who made me into what you see before you today. A _freak_."

To demonstrate her point, Rouge stretched both of her arms forward, past Derek and all the way toward the end of the hall... some thirty yards away. Her arms then snapped back into place, resuming their normal length in less than a second. The whole time, Rouge was looking right into Voscoti's eyes... trying to read whether or not he was scared of her, just as he must've been in order to leave her lying in that hospital bed with no one to turn to. As it turns out, he _was _scared... not because of her genetic modifications, but because she was looking at him with an expression of intense rage... rage that he didn't think he deserved.

"Oh... you're not a freak... that's a really neat trick, actually... and, I see your face is healed up nicely... not a single scar... you're beautiful."

"...is that all?" She was not flattered in the least by his remarks, knowing full well that the only reason he was even giving her the time of day was because she was no longer a crumpled heap of flesh lying in a hospital bed. "Or do you want to tell me about how your security business completely went under?"

"..._after _I sold it," clarified Voscoti, who had sold Baddalax Security to the highest bidder after Sedaris' defection and subsequent death. "I made a cool $28 million out of the deal... and I've invested virtually all of that money into this little venture, so I'd better see a return on my investment, or-"

Madame Rouge lunged forward and grabbed Voscoti, extending her left arm and wrapping it around the man's chest to pin his arms to her side, while her right arm went forward toward Voscoti's neck. She didn't have to stretch out _that _arm... her fingers could strangle him just fine.

"You'd just better hope that your man Slade doesn't decide to fuck us over, do you catch my drift?" Madame Rouge did not have to raise her voice to convey the message that she was _extremely _serious... and that the consequences for any sort of betrayal by Slade would fall right on Voscoti's head. "I'll be watching him, _and _you... and if either of you-"

The sound of the Brain's voice over the building's PA system indicated that not only was Voscoti wanted in the central chambers, but Rouge and Immortus as well. A business meeting was about to take place... but Rouge wanted to finish her sentence first.

"As I was saying... if either of you do anything to compromise the Brotherhood of Evil, I'll do what I should have done the second I got out of that hospital."

Finally, Rouge released her deathgrip on Voscoti's neck, and her left arm retracted back to its normal shape, leaving the businessman gasping on one knee as Rouge walked past him down the hallway.

"And... what exactly... would that be...?" asked Voscoti raspily, tempting fate. Rouge turned her head back to face him, and as calmly and seriously as she could, stated _exactly _what she would do.

"Rip off your balls."

Once all of the Brotherhood members, and Voscoti, made it to the central chamber, a television screen mounted next to the Brain's pedestal flashed on, revealing the shadowed face of Slade.

"Report," said the Brain, who had already been notified of the Titans' visit to the stadium where the Brotherhood intended to hold its conference of villains. "Have the Teen Titans been taken care of?"

"There has been a hitch in my plans," reported Slade, "not entirely unexpected, but regrettable nonetheless. Red X adamantly refuses to be my apprentice, despite all the threats I could level at him. It is likely that he will now be joining the Titans in their fight against us."

"I knew that your plans to secure the services of a new apprentice weren't going to work," said Mallah, who had been skeptical of Slade's involvement right from the start, and continued to be so. "Does this mean that you'll be taking care of the Titans _and _X for us?"

"I still intend to gain Red X's services... however, if I am unsuccessful, I will expect the four of you to deal with him."

"We have enough to worry about," said Madame Rouge, "and if the Titans are still active, they will almost surely come to stop our meeting with the villains of this city."

"I will lead them elsewhere. There is a factory on the other side of town, miles from the Jump City University campus. I will attack the factory, diverting the Titans' attention away from your meeting."

"And if the Titans just decide to split up?" asked Mallah, raising one of his eyebrows.

"I assure you... they will not."

Slade's assurances were good enough for General Immortus, who knew enough of Slade to know that the Titans could not handle him by themselves... and likely would not send Red X alone to intercept the meeting. However, both Mallah and Rouge continued to hold their objections... objections that Voscoti attempted to stave off before they could even be stated.

"That sounds like a good plan," said Voscoti, as encouragingly as he possibly could. "It took all of the Titans working together to handle my rogue employee Sedaris, and Sedaris is nooooo Slade!"

Voscoti's remarks, accompanied by a confident, almost cheesy smile, just served to further Mallah and Rouge's reservations about the plan... but it was the Brain who had the last word, and after running a quick analysis of all possible scenarios, decided that Slade's plan would be the best course of action to take.

"I will entrust Slade with the task of creating a diversion, which leaves the rest of you with just a few hours to prepare for the meeting. General Immortus, were you successful in freeing all of the Titans' incarcerated enemies?"

"I was 100 successful, my lord," replied Immortus.

"Good. Tonight will be the beginning of the end for this city... and the beginning of our dominion over the world. The Titans and their allies will be crushed by our numbers and our strength... together, we will be unstoppable."

O-O-O

That night, the workers at an unsuspecting textile refinery had no idea that their place of employment was about to be the staging ground for a diversionary battle...

"Hey Charlie, they got you workin' second shift tonight?" said a male employee, helping to carry a large stack of nylon roof covers to a waiting semi truck over by the building's loading dock.

"Yeah, but I'm gettin' paid double, so..."

Suddenly, a tall Sladebot leapt onto the stack of roof covers, kicking one of the workers in the chest before pointing its blaster ray at the other and nearly vaporizing him. The workers nearby dropped what they were carrying and looked outside... finding to their horror that Sladebots had taken over the entire loading dock, and that they were being led by Jump City's most fearsome criminal mastermind...

"This factory is mine now," said Slade, entering the building accompanied by dozens of Sladebots. The workers nearby began running in horror as Slade's robot entourage destroyed everything in sight... machines, trucks, materials, anything their blaster rays touched exploded in a massive fireball. The alarm soon went out as Jump City's largest textile factory quickly descended into chaos.

O-O-O

And alarms blared at Titans Tower as well, as the location of Slade's latest attack appeared as a bright red dot on the big screen in the main room.

"I don't believe it," said Robin, checking the details of the attack on the Tower's computer. "It's Slade!"

Terra let out an audible gasp, while the rest of the Titans stared at the screen in shock.

"Dude... don't we have to go and stop the Brotherhood of Evil's meeting?" asked Beast Boy, checking a nearby clock. "It starts in thirty minutes!"

"We have to take care of Slade first..." said Robin, clearly as distraught as Beast Boy was about not being able to stop the meeting.

"Well... maybe we can split up or something, some of us can go down to the stadium, and the rest can go after Slade..." Cyborg suggested.

"This is _Slade _we're dealing with..." said Raven, glancing over at Cyborg while lowering her hood. "We have to take care of him first..."

"Maybe if we take him out quickly, we can stop the Brotherhood's meeting," said Robin, rushing toward the front door as quickly as he could. "Titans, GO!"

The other Titans followed Robin, while Terra quickly walked over to the phone and picked it up, dialing Sanza's number as fast as she could. She knew how much Sanza wanted to take down Slade... and also knew that she'd feel a lot better around Slade if Sanza was with her.

_"Come on, come on, pick up..."_

O-O-O

Meanwhile, at the Salazars' apartment, Sanza was seated at the kitchen table, frantically trying to finish a paper that he was working on. As his pen scribbled barely-legible words onto a lined piece of paper, the phone nearby began to ring. Letting out a loud sigh, Sanza walked over and picked it up. Before he could even say 'hello', Terra's desperate voice could be heard on the other end.

"Sanza, Slade's attacked a factory on the west side of town... we're going over there right now, can you come help us...?"

"Slade?!" said Sanza, loud enough to get his mother's attention from the nearby living room. "I... I... I'm kind of working on a-"

"Sanza, we're leaving _right now! _Robin's yelling at me to come on, I need an answer right now, yes or no...!"

"Well, I-"

"Hurry!"

"I'll be right there," said Sanza, who could hear the 'click' of the phone being hung up as soon as he spoke. _"Oh man... I wanna kick Slade's ass, but... now?"_

"Sanza, who was that on the phone?" asked Maria, a worried look on her face. It was quite clear that she'd heard everything Sanza had been saying... and anything that concerned Slade was enough to make her extremely uneasy. "Was that Slade, or-"

"It was Terra," said Sanza, walking past his mother and jogging up the stairs to his room. From the upstairs hallway, he yelled the rest of the details down to his mother. "Slade's attacked a factory, she wants me to help them stop him!"

Before Maria could protest, she heard the sound of her son's bedroom door opening and then slamming shut. By then, it was already too late to stop her son... and she could only home that he'd come back in one piece.

_"Please, Sanza... I beg of you to be careful..."_

Maria punctuated her silent plea by putting her hand over her rapidly-beating heart.

O-O-O

As the T-Car and the T-Cycle approached the textile factory, they could see several large pillars of smoke rising up from the complex... and as they got even closer, they could easily see the flames that were shooting out from parts of the building.

The two vehicles parked a short distance away, and the six Titans quickly got off or out of them, walking toward the burning building with a clear and urgent purpose... Slade had to be stopped, and he had to be stopped immediately.

_"I just hope Sanza gets here before we go inside..." _thought Terra, walking between Raven and Beast Boy as the Titans made their way up to the front entrance of the building. Though neither Slade nor any of his Sladebots could be seen, the indelible footprint of destruction that their actions had caused could be both seen and felt as the Titans got closer and closer.

Just before they made their way to the front entrance, a voice called out to them... a voice that filled Terra with immense relief.

"Hey, you guys aren't gonna go kicking Slade's butt without me, are you?"

The Titans turned to see Red X, walking across the parking lot toward the team, his eyes not leaving Terra's the entire time.

"Terra... did you call Red X here?" asked Robin, looking over at her with a serious, but not angry expression.

"Yeah... you said you were okay with him helping us, so-"

"You're right, I am..." he shifted his focus to the thief, who was now standing just behind Terra. "But you'd better not try anything, or-"

"Can we just get in here and take care of Slade? I've got a paper to write once we get done..."

_"And we've got a meeting of Jump City's villains to crash..." _thought Beast Boy, still holding out hope that the Titans could take care of Slade quickly enough to stop the Brotherhood of Evil's gathering of the Titans' enemies. "You guys... I don't see him anywhere, maybe... maybe he's gone to the meeting?"

"I don't think so," said Robin, who knew that somewhere inside the burning factory, Slade was still causing chaos... and maybe even hurting the workers who hadn't been able to make it out. "He's still here... and we're gonna stop him. Let's go."

The Titans and Red X walked into the factory, not knowing quite what to expect when they got inside. The small lobby was completely undamaged, though it had been darkened when the power to the factory had gone out, and the sight of vending machines in one of the corners of the room made both Beast Boy and Cyborg's mouths begin to water. At the same time, Terra couldn't focus at all on the vending machines... all she was thinking about was that somewhere inside this building was her tormentor and worst nightmare... and she began to tremble involuntarily, her hands shaking worst of all.

She felt someone's gloved hand tighten around her own... and looked down to see that it was Red X who had taken her hand. Immediately, he pulled back, and she looked at him quizzically, hoping to get an explanation, while at the same time already knowing why he'd tried to comfort her.

_"Thank you..."_

At the end of the hallway leading right, the Titans could see a shadowy figure run past them... and Robin knew exactly who it was.

"Slade!"

Robin dashed down the hallway, and X and the other Titans quickly gave chase. They arrived in another hallway, and looking to the left and to the right, could see no sign of Slade... but could see that while to the left was a smoldering pile of rubble, a large, mostly undamaged cafeteria lay just a short distance to the right. The Boy Wonder gestured for the Titans to follow him into the cafeteria... but when they got inside, they found a room completely devoid of anyone.

"Where...?!" Robin looked back and forth, his bo staff extended. "Slade was right here, I saw him go this way!"

"Look, up there!" shouted Starfire, pointing to the metal rafters hanging from the ceiling. On top of them were perched several shadowy figures... Sladebots, a total of eight in all. The Titans barely had time to get into their battle stances before the Sladebots leapt down upon them.

O-O-O

"I hear the Titans got into a pretty rough and tumble fight in this place last night..." said Adonis to fellow villain Cheshire, his arms over his chest. Cheshire looked around the destroyed stadium, and without a word, nodded her head in agreement. Standing nearby were two more villains: The Amazing Mumbo, and a rotund, goatee-sporting man known as Ding Dong Daddy.

"So you're sayin' this Red X cat is a pretty dangerous fellow?" asked Ding Dong Daddy, obviously having no idea of the thief, or his history with the blue-skinned, card-slinging magician.

"He's completely insane!" shouted Mumbo, still slightly traumatized from his encounter with the thief so many months ago. "He has absolutely no mercy, unlike those foolish Titans... if you meet him, I suggest you run."

"I'm not gonna run from him, or anyone else!" shouted Kitten, standing nearby with her boyfriend Fang. "Especially if they're standing next to my precious Robbie-poo..."

As the villains began to gather into the rubble-filled stadium, the four members of the Brotherhood of Evil stood at the top row of one of the only remaining sections of stands, watching the proceedings with various levels of anticipation.

"I certainly hope that Slade is successful in keeping those pesky Titans away..." said Madame Rouge. "He assured us that we wouldn't have to worry about them... not even a tiny bit."

"Even if he fails to destroy the Teen Titans, they will have no chance to defeat us... or the group of villains we have assembled here," said the Brain, without a hint of emotion. "It is almost certain that evil will prevail."

O-O-O

The Sladebots may have gotten the jump on the Titans and their ally Red X, but their advantage in timing was almost immediately negated by their inferior fighting abilities, and within just a few seconds, half of the Sladebots had been sent to the scrap heap. The other four had scattered to various parts of the cafeteria, standing on tables and shooting their blasters at the team.

"My mom can mop the floor with you losers," said Red X, rolling to the side to avoid one of the Sladebot's laser blasts, while responded with an attack of his own, an X-shuriken aimed straight at the robot's neck. "so there's no way you have even a chance against me."

But the Sladebot was slightly quicker than the model that had shown up at the Salazars' apartment, and it managed to avoid being decapitated by leaping off the table. What it hadn't accounted for was the fact that it had leapt down right in front of Starfire... and a couple of Starbolts was all that it took to put the Sladebot out of commission.

"That was certainly fortunate!" said Starfire, giggling slightly as she looked over at Red X.

"No way, I meant to get him to jump in front of your Starbolts," replied Red X, running over to one of the three remaining Sladebots and taking it out by stabbing his wrist blade into its chest. "I really did!"

The Sladebot exploded, showering both Red X and nearby Beast Boy and Raven in shrapnel. Instinctively, Beast Boy tackled Raven to the floor to protect her... only to be pushed away by an energy shield that she raised to protect herself.

"I can handle it, Beast Boy..." said Raven annoyedly, looking back and forth at the two remaining Sladebots and concentrating a small amount of dark energy into the tips of her fingers. "Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!"

She extended her arms, destroying both Sladebots with blasts of energy. Now that all eight Sladebots were destroyed, there was nothing stopping the Titans from exploring the rest of the factory... and Robin didn't even give them time to relax from the fight before running toward the nearest exit and out into a hallway leading to another part of the factory. The Titans and Red X followed him, knowing that the distraction of fighting the Sladebots, brief as it was, had probably allowed Slade to get well away.

The smoke and flames from the factory's devastation began to get more and more intense as the Titans made their way through the Tower's various production rooms. As they ran, they found themselves having to dodge various pieces of debris falling on them from the ceiling, while occasionally getting into skirmishes with small groups of Sladebots. It didn't take Robin long to figure out that all of this running was getting his team no closer to finding Slade... and after crossing through their fifth production room, signaled for the group to stop.

"We haven't seen Slade anywhere..." said Robin, who had stopped not only to regroup, but to catch his breath, as all of that dodging and fighting was beginning to take its toll. "I think... we might need to split up."

"Dude, that's what I said before we even came out here!" shouted Beast Boy, clearly beginning to get frustrated. Not only was this starting to seem like one big wild goose chase, but it was likely that by now, the Brotherhood of Evil's meeting had already started.

"None of us are leaving the factory," replied Robin, sternly clarifying what he meant by 'splitting up'. "We form two groups, and-"

"What do I look like... some kind of Scooby-Doo villain?"

That voice... that unmistakable voice. Immediately, the Titans' attention was drawn upward, to a stopped conveyor belt about thirty feet above the ground. Standing on top of the conveyor belt was Slade, looking casually down at the Titans, his voice mocking their inability to capture him.

"I've been right here, this whole time... and now that you've found me, you're putting yourselves at a disadvantage by splitting up your group so I can hunt you down much, much more easily? Honestly, Robin, I thought you were much smarter than that..."

"Titans, after him!"

Robin's order triggered an immediate wave of activity. Starfire and Raven both flew up toward the conveyor belt, while Beast Boy transformed into a falcon and did the same. Terra lifted up on a chunk of concrete, taking Red X, Robin, and Cyborg with her. But though it took just seconds for the Titans to reach Slade's location, he had disappeared into the shadows just as quickly, and the Titans saw nothing but a short section of conveyor belt leading to another part of the factory. The three flying Titans quickly set down and ran into the opening, while Terra leapt off her rock and followed them, closely followed herself by Robin, Cyborg, and Red X.

The opening led into another production room, the exact same size as the first, but far more cluttered... filled with rows and rows of conveyor belts, and large machines, some of them with their insides smoldering... and this smoldering produced smoke, smoke that filled the room with a thin, smoky haze.

"This room is a dead end..." said Starfire, her glowing eyes scanning the cluttered production room and finding no places to enter or exit... not even a window. "So where could Slade possibly-"

Suddenly, the Tamaranian girl gave a loud scream, lurching forward as the conveyor belt beneath her feet began to move. A loud, mechanical grinding could be heard as every machine in the room began to spring to life... and from behind every machine and conveyor belt emerged a Sladebot, three dozen in all, each of them ready to strike.

This time, Terra was the one to grab Red X's hand.

O-O-O

More than fifty of Jump City's worst thieves, miscreants, and rogues had gathered on the rubble-cluttered football field inside Gerrik Memorial Coliseum. They had all gathered for one purpose, and one purpose alone... the promise that they would finally be able to accomplish the one thing they'd been trying to do since they'd begun their criminal careers... destroy the Teen Titans.

Emerging from the shadows, Madame Rouge, General Immortus, and Monsieur Mallah stood in front of their leader, the Brain. The gathered crowd of villains looked up toward the Brotherhood members, wondering just exactly the woman, the old man, the monkey, and the brain in a jar could do to help them finally defeat their do-gooder foes.

"Hey, are you the ones that called us here?" shouted Control Freak, his hands on his hips. "I'm missing some really good TV shows for this, so I'm hoping you can shed some light on what you plan to do to get rid of those annoying Titans."

"You have all been brought here for a grand purpose..." said the Brain, his mechanical voice projected over the field's speakers by a cable that Mallah had connected from his jar to the PA system. "Together, we will eliminate not only the Teen Titans, but young heroes from around the world."

"Around the world, you say...?" Atlas' loud and deep voice carried all the way up to the top of the stands, and the four members of the Brotherhood were able to hear him loud and clear. "I have conquered the world's greatest video game players, but... conquering the world's greatest heroes will be no small task."

"I agree with the big dumb robot," said Adonis, prompting an angry look from Atlas, who was standing right next to him. "How are we supposed to kick the butts of every single young superhero in the world?"

"Very simple," said the Brain, "and if you will let me finish, I will tell you. First, you will all attack the Teen Titans simultaneously. Your numbers are far too great for the Titans to handle, and they will need to call for help... first from Titans East, and then, they will need to send out a worldwide distress call... a call that will bring all the young heroes in the world to their aid. Once they arrive, I will devise a strategy of divide and conquer, allowing you all to get the jump on and outnumber these young heroes. Using my tactical plans, you will have no problems defeating the groups of heroes you are assigned to... and do not worry about allowing the Teen Titans to get away. I have someone already assigned to take care of them."

The villains began talking amongst themselves, discussing Brain's plan with various levels of enthusiasm. Some were skeptical, but many were intrigued... after all, despite the fact that all of them individually had battled the Titans many times, they'd never had the good sense to team up and go after the Titans together. That alone convinced many of them that the Brain's plan would be a complete success.

Some of the villains, in fact, were particularly impressed...

"See that woman up there?" said Jinx to her fellow H.I.V.E. members, pointing up at Madame Rouge. "Her name is Madame Rouge... you guys haven't heard about her, but I've been following her work for _years_... I've based my entire career as a villain on her work."

Jinx then began jumping up and down, waving her hands and shouting up to Madame Rouge, hoping that the black-haired villainess would notice her. Rouge _did _notice Jinx, but only for a second... giving the girl an annoyed look before returning her attention to the rest of the crowd. Jinx was unfazed by Rouge's gesture, turning to the rest of the group excitedly.

"Did you see her look at me?" said Jinx, pointing up at Rouge over and over again. "She looked at me, did you see?"

"She didn't seem all that impressed," huffed Gizmo, shooting Jinx a skeptical sneer. He, along with Mammoth and Billy Numerous, began to chuckle... while Kid Wykyyd remained silent, and See-More gave Jinx an encouraging smile.

"I'm sure once she gets to know you, you'll become her favorite fan... who knows, she might even take you on as her apprentice!"

_"You really think so...?" _thought Jinx, looking up at Rouge one last time before returning to See-More and kissing him right in the center of his eyeball. "Thanks, See-More... at least I have _someone _who thinks I'm not wasting my time..."

The Brotherhood of Evil watched as the villains continued to discuss the Brain's battle strategy down on the field... the meeting had been a complete success. Phase one of the Brotherhood's plan to take over the world was now underway.

O-O-O

The smoke filling Production Room E-1 was getting thicker and thicker as the smoldering machines continued to run at full capacity. The Sladebots, with the advantage of night vision, could see their opponents quite clearly through the oppressive haze... but all of the Titans except for Starfire were being put at a clear disadvantage.

"How many Sladebots are left...?!" shouted Cyborg, frantically firing away with his plasma cannon, not just to fend off a group of Sladebots that had crowded around him, but also to give him some light in the rapidly-darkening room. "I think I've taken out three so far!"

"Try taking out some more," said Red X, ducking a kick from one Sladebot and thrusting his blades into the neck of another. _"Damn, these bastards aren't very tough, but they're persistant!"_

On top of one of the pressing machines, the ten-foot-tall metallic behemoths that combined took up about a fourth of the room, Robin battled four Sladebots, hitting them with his bo staff in an attempt to knock them to the concrete ground below. The pressing machine had been damaged badly, and its insides were beginning to overheat, causing the top of the machine to begin heating up to dangerous levels, not to mention that there was still smoke pouring from the bottom of the machine, sifting up to the top and making it hard for Robin to see or to breathe. He let out several loud coughs, and soon found himself in the grasp of one of the Sladebots, with another one launching a flying kick right at his head. He broke free and ducked just in time, causing the Sladebot's kick to impact its partner's head, and sending both Sladebots flying off the top of the machine. They landed in a heap of metallic debris next to Raven, who was having Sladebot troubles of her own, facing three of them and having a very difficult time doing so.

_"This smoke is burning my eyes...!!!" _thought Raven, who was standing right in the middle of the thick cloud of smoke pouring out from the bottom of the machine. She formed a barrier of energy to block a kick from one of the Sladebots, then tossed that energy barrier forward, catching the robot off balance and knocking it to the ground. "Robin, get off the top of that machine so I can use it to smash these guys!"

Robin, who had just taken out the last two of the Sladebots on top of the machine, was quick to oblige, firing his Birdcable upward and looping it around a conveyor belt. He started to come up, but was suddenly stopped in his tracks, letting out a scream as he decelerated to a stop in an instant. When he looked down, he realized to his horror that the growing heat that was building up in the machine had made its metallic top so hot that the bottom of his boots had begun to melt... he was stuck.

"Raven, hold on, I have to get my boots free!" shouted Robin, taking out a small can of solvent spray from his utility belt and bending over. Two Sladebots, standing on an adjacent pressing machine, quickly leapt over and began battering the helpless Robin with punches and kicks, knocking the solvent spray from his hands and battering him with numerous blows. "Aaaaaaaaaagh!!!"

"ROBIN!" Starfire quickly flew over to assist her friend, blasting his attackers with eye lasers, which destroyed them in less than a second, bombarding Robin with shrapnel. "I apologize, but I had to-"

"It's okay, Starfire, just pull me off of this thing so Raven can use it to take out some of these Sladebots!"

Nearby, Beast Boy had transformed into a gorilla, and was using his mighty arms to take out as many Sladebots as he could. Terra was on the conveyor belt above his head, lifting up concrete from the floor and using it to smash the Sladebots before they could get to her.

"Come on, I can take ALL of you guys!" screamed Terra, her eyes aglow, her face displaying an expression of anger. It had been a long time since she'd battled against Sladebots, and all of the rage that she held toward Slade, she transferred toward his creations... every time she laid eyes on a Sladebot, she couldn't help but remember her horrible past. _"Come on... come on... when is this gonna be over...?"_

Finally, Terra destroyed the last of the Sladebots on the conveyor belt. She looked down to see her fellow Titans, still fighting below in the smoke and flames... and immediately started to leap down to help them.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Slade... standing right in the opening leading back into Production Room E. She turned toward him, her eyes widening in fear.

"You _should _be afraid of me, Terra..." Slade said coldly, his one visible eye staring right into hers. "You took my life... I should take yours right now."

"JUST TRY IT!" Terra screamed, shelving her fear and running at Slade with unimaginable fury. He backed off, leaping down from the conveyor belt into the floor of the next room. Without a second thought, she pursued him... none of the others seeing her go.

Down below, the smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and all of the Titans, even the partially mechanical Cyborg, were beginning to cough and choke, their eyes watering and making it increasingly tough for them to see their opponents. By now, they'd destroyed more than half of the Sladebots... but they still had serious work to do.

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!!!" screamed Raven as soon as Starfire had freed Robin from the top of the machine. She picked up the enormous contraption, which likely weighed more than ten tons, and dropped it right on top of the largest group of Sladebots she could find. As soon as it fell, it became engulfed by a violent, fiery explosion, as the volatile parts inside of the machine were instantly incinerated by the stress of the fall. The explosion threw Raven all the way back into the far wall, while sending Robin and Starfire crashing upward through one of the conveyor belts. Beast Boy, Red X, and Cyborg, while not knocked down or blown back, could still feel the heat and the shockwave, and immediately turned to see what had happened.

"...next time, could you try to be just a bit more careful...?" asked Red X, shielding his face from the huge cloud of smoke that the explosion had generated. _"Oh man... pretty soon it'll be impossible to breathe in here..."_

"Raven!" Beast Boy shouted, running over to his fallen friend, who, while she had not been knocked out by the blow, was still in great pain, mostly because she'd suffered a similar concussion just the previous day. "Are you... all right...?"

"Unnnh... Beast Boy... I told you I could take care of myself..." groaned Raven, trying to pick herself up from the floor. Immediately, she let out a scream of pain and slumped back against the wall, a fiery sensation shooting through every part of her body. "All right, Beast Boy... just this once, you can help me up."

"It looks like that blast destroyed all the Sladebots," said Cyborg, looking up to see Starfire dangling from the edge of a damaged conveyor belt, with Robin holding onto her legs and trying as hard as he could not to let go. "Don't worry, I'll be over there to catch you in a second..."

While the five original Titans regrouped near the center of the room, the sixth Titan was missing... and Red X was the first to realize it. Suddenly, he could hear the faint sounds of yelling from the other room... mostly Terra.

"Did you guys hear that...?" shouted Red X, turning back toward the Titans. Beast Boy was helping to support a weakened Raven, who was barely able to stand on two feet, while Robin had just landed in Cyborg's arms, and was being carried by him toward the center of the room, followed by a slightly worried Starfire. "It sounded like-"

"Where's Terra?" interrupted Beast Boy, looking around the room for any sign of his blonde-haired friend. "And where's Slade...?"

"Come on, we've gotta hurry!" shouted Robin, pointing up toward the opening in the wall that represented the only way out of the large, smoke-filled production room. "Up there!"

O-O-O

Terra levitated a large chunk of concrete from the ground and threw it toward Slade, who destroyed it effortlessly with a single punch.

"I think you've gotten weaker since the last time I saw you, Terra... being a Titan has made you soft."

"SHUT UP!!!" screamed Terra, launching several rocks at Slade, who punched through the first three and kicked through the forth.

"Just admit it... you need me, Terra. I'm the only one who ever gave you a purpose... I'm the only one who ever gave you control."

"I don't need you... I never did!" Consumed with rage, Terra rushed toward Slade and kicked at his head, a kick that he dodged effortlessly by stepping to the side. She then launched a powerful punch right at his face... which he countered easily, grabbing her wrist and twisting it, hard. "Aaaaaaaaah...!!!"

Still struggling in Slade's grasp, Terra watched as her friends dropped into the room... the Titans, Beast Boy... and Red X.

"Let her go you son of a bitch!" shouted Red X, pointing his palm right at Slade's head.

"NO!" shouted Terra, ripping her arm free of Slade's grasp and leaping back. "I can take him!"

"Terra, let us help!" ordered Robin, extending his bo staff and beginning to charge forward.

"That's right, Terra, let your friends help you... but they're not really your friends, Terra. You don't have any friends."

"I... have had... enough... of YOU!!!"

With her fury reaching its breaking point, Terra thrust both of her palms forward and concentrated all of her energy into the concrete floor beneath Slade's feet. A huge, stone spike jutted up under him, right between his legs. He didn't have time to dodge.

The spike ripped through Slade like a pin through a balloon... but instead of an explosion of blood and gore, hundreds of shards of metal and thousands of screws rushed outward from Terra's stone spike, scattering around it and hitting the floor with a series of quiet clangs. Terra stood in shock, wondering what she had just witnessed... but Red X and the Titans already knew... and Robin instantly realized what a fool he'd been.

"It was... a Sladebot... a fucking Sladebot... I don't believe it... we came here for NOTHING!"

Terra fell to her knees and bowed her head, shaking violently in shock and despair. Her long, blonde hair hung like a veil from both sides of her face, her mouth and eyes both as wide as they could be. She didn't cry, she just uttered a few quiet, pathetic sounds from her throat... not even flinching as Red X placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm pissed off too, Terra... this happens all the time, but we're gonna get the real Slade..."

"GOD DAMMIT!" screamed Robin, falling to his knees and angrily pounding the floor. _"I should have known Slade would do this...! An random attack on a non-strategic location that just happens to come at the same time as an important Brotherhood of Evil meeting...? He's working with them, how didn't I see this?"_

His vendetta against Slade had blinded him... and he knew it. Beast Boy had been right all along.

But at the moment, the changeling wasn't angry... he was more concerned with Terra, who he knew was extremely shaken after her encounter with what had seemed to her to be Slade.

"I... I thought... he seemed so real, Sanza... how could that not be Slade... all those things he said... it... had to be him..."

Red X and Beast Boy helped Terra up from the floor, walking back with her toward the other Titans... Robin was still on one knee, still beating himself up for letting Slade trick him so easily.

"Robin... there is still a chance that the meeting may still be taking place," said Starfire, placing a comforting hand on Robin's shoulder. "If we are still attempting to stop it, we will want to get over there immediately..."

"Starfire's right, they might still be there, we gotta try something!" said Beast Boy. If there was still a chance to stop the Brotherhood of Evil, the last thing Beast Boy wanted to do was to start a time-wasting argument by playing the blame game. _"I can be mad at Robin later, we have to stop the Brotherhood now!"_

O-O-O

But though the Titans and Red X reached the other side of town in record time, when they stepped onto the field at Gerrik Coliseum, they found it to be completely empty... not a villain in sight.

"Come on, Titans..." said Robin disappointedly, trudging back toward the stadium entrance, his head hung low. "We need to head back to the Tower and figure out what we're gonna do next."

The Titans followed Robin out of the stadium, and once again, Red X was left behind. He stood at the center of the field, staring up at the sky and thinking back to the battle he'd witnessed between Terra and Slade.

He'd had an uneasiness within him since the moment he left the factory... an uneasiness caused by a realization.

_"If that had been the real Slade... Terra might have been kidnapped... or worse..." _thought Red X, not taking his eyes off Terra as she left with the other Titans. He could see her hand clasped tightly around Beast Boy's, and the two were talking to one another... neither one of them seemed even the least bit happy. _"And it would've been my fault... I promised to protect her, but... I didn't even see her leave the room..."_

As Red X left the stadium through the large crater in the stands behind the north end zone, he knew exactly what would be haunting his dreams that night.

O-O-O

Obviously, the real Slade had never been at the factory... he'd been controlling the Sladebot from the downtown warehouse which he was still using as his own, exclusive hideout.

His mission had been a success... the Brotherhood's briefing of Jump City's villains had gone off without a hitch... and now, he was reporting back to them. He picked up a cell phone and pressed a button... dialing a direct line to the radio transmitter inside the Brain's jar.

"As you probably know, I managed to keep the Titans out of tonight's proceedings. They're most likely just now discovering that they're too late to stop you."

"Excellent work," replied the Brain. "You have proven your worth."

"A bit of secondary news to report that you may also find pleasing," said Slade, exiting the warehouse's office and walking out into the large storage area. "Right after my robotic avatar was destroyed, I received some visitors... you may know them well."

Piled up next to Slade were the unconscious bodies of all four members of the Doom Patrol... there was a stream of blood trickling down the right side of Mento's lips.

"I understand you've been wanting the Doom Patrol for quite some time."

"This is most unexpected news... even I could not have calculated this."

"I'll be bringing them over momentarily."

O-O-O

As M. Night Shaymalan might say... 'what a twist!!' But of course, a captured Doom Patrol isn't the only problem for our heroes... with all of the villains now marching to the beat of the same drum, do the Teen Titans even have a sliver of a chance? Find out in the next exciting chapter!


	7. Battle Royale With Cheese

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

_Terra was running again, running down a long, dark corridor with no end in sight, and darkness all around her. It was fear that kept her running... a terrifying feeling that gripped at her soul and squeezed until she could barely take a breath._

_A fear that she would fail her friends... a fear that she would betray them again._

_She ran as fast as she could, but she could not escape the voice that was constantly calling out to her, beckoning to her... and no matter how much she tried to block it out, or how loud she screamed, the voice kept calling to her._

_It was the voice of Slade._

"_That's right, Terra, run from your problems... but you could run for a thousand miles and you still wouldn't be able to get away from what you did."_

"_Shut up!! I'm not your apprentice anymore!"_

"_But that doesn't change the fact that you betrayed them... all of them, Terra... you even betrayed Beast Boy, the boy you loved with all of your heart."_

"_STOP TALKING TO ME!!!"_

_Terra tried to run faster, but she could feel her legs starting to give out, and an agonizing pain began to shoot up her body, from her feet all the way up to her chest and neck. She gave one last breath, then finally fell to her knees, gasping loudly, her eyes staring at the floor._

_And still, Slade spoke to her._

"_You did terrible things... unforgivable things. They never truly forgave you, Terra. They still don't trust you. They still hate you."_

"_Stop it... stop it...!!!" Terra rocked back and forth, her hands on her forehead, tears forming in her eyes. No matter how much she tried to forget what she had done for Slade, she couldn't... and until she forgot, she could never forgive herself._

"_And deep down, you still hate them... you did unforgivable things, and you have no regrets."_

"_STOP IT!!!!"_

O-O-O

Terra sat up in her bed and let out a loud gasp, her face covered with a mixture of sweat and tears as she looked out the window, her eyes as wide as they could be. She let out several loud sobs and scrunched up into a ball, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling the covers of her bed up to her body.

"_I... I'm a horrible person... Slade is right, I don't have any friends..."_

But after the initial hysteria of waking up from a horrible nightmare, Terra slowly regained her senses. Of course she had friends... Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven... all had taken her in, all had forgiven her horrible sins.

And Beast Boy... even though she'd broken his heart, he still loved her... which was why Terra was even less willing to forgive herself for ever hurting him.

"_Beast Boy... I'm so sorry..."_

Terra sniffled and wiped the tears from her face before slowly laying her head back on her pillow and trying to go to sleep. She knew that as soon as she closed her eyes, she would drift back off into dreamland, and would likely have another nightmare about Slade... but she was incredibly exhausted, and knew that Jump City faced a terrible new threat... the Brotherhood of Evil, and their alliance of every villain in the city... and of course, Slade. If she was going to fight Slade, going to defeat him again, she needed her rest... and the moment she closed her eyes, rest is what she got.

O-O-O

Sanza had also been dreaming about Slade... but instead of serving as a terrible reminder of his past, the dreams served to portend a horrific future scenario... just as Sanza feared, he'd had nightmares about Slade hurting Terra. Because he'd been expecting them, he was able to remind himself while he was dreaming that the visions were just that... only dreams, only illusions... but they had still seemed so incredibly real.

Now, as he sat eating lunch in the school cafeteria, the look on his face clearly indicated to his friends Rob and Marcy that something was terribly wrong. It was Spaghetti Day, but Sanza hadn't eaten even a tiny bit... he just stared down at his bowl, twirling his fork in his food for nearly five minutes.

"Hey, man, you all right?" asked Rob, gently reaching over and grabbing Sanza's wrist. "You're not thinking about Cleo again, are you?"

For the last few weeks, Cleo had kept her distance from her former friends, sitting at a table in the corner of the room. She usually tried to sit by herself, and ignored anyone who came to sit at the other places around the table. Today, she sat alone, and quietly and quickly ate her spaghetti, wanting to spend as little time in the cafeteria as possible.

"It's not... well, yeah it is," sighed Sanza, briefly glancing over at his ex-girlfriend before returning his gaze to his friend Rob. He was only half-lying. Sanza was mostly thinking about Terra, but of course, his experiences with Cleo were inextricably woven into his mind, and he knew that he had to do a better job protecting Terra than he did Cleo... if anything happened to Terra, he would never forgive himself.

"Oh..." Rob released Sanza's wrist and slid his hand back across the table, picking up his fork and using it to pick up another clump of spaghetti. "Hey, you can't blame yourself for what happened to her, I mean... there are some crazy people out there, you never know when one of 'em's gonna strike."

The story that Cleo had given Rob and Marcy was that after she'd helped Sanza escape from the LaredoSoft research building during the field trip, a disgruntled security guard had abducted her that evening, and had raped her the next day. She didn't tell them a thing about Red X, or Lonnie Jarvin, or anything that would compromise the promise she'd made to Sanza... that as long as he never spoke to her again, she'd keep her mouth shut about Red X.

"Yeah... that guy who did that to Cleo was a sick bastard... there was nothing you could've done, so don't worry about it," replied Marcy, giving Sanza as understanding a smile as she could.

"Thanks, guys," replied Sanza, sticking his fork into the spaghetti and slowly twirling it around. "But... actually, it's something else... there's another girl I'm sort of falling for, and... I don't want what happened to Cleo to happen to her."

"...oh," said Rob, blinking his eyes and looking over at Marcy. "Uhhh..."

"Not her, Rob," said Sanza, "it's... it's not someone from this school."

"Oh, well then... I can't give you any advice, I mean, I've never had to protect Marcy from any weird criminals or anything, so-"

Marcy jabbed Rob hard in the side with her elbow, seeing in Sanza's eyes that Rob's advice was only making her friend feel worse.

"Sanza, you and I both know that you're one of the toughest guys in the school... but you don't have to protect anyone. You need to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Cleo, she's going to be fine..." Marcy looked over at Cleo, and for a second, tried to empathize with the horrific experience that her friend had been through... knowing that she couldn't, she turned back to Sanza and reached across the table, taking his hands in hers. "Cleo's going to recover... she's going to find someone else and be happy again... and so are you, Sanza. You're a great guy, and you _deserve _to be happy... whoever this new girl is, she must be wonderful if you've really fallen for her this quickly."

"_Terra _is _wonderful..." _thought Sanza, finally smiling for the first time he'd done so all lunch period. _"She's funny, she's beautiful, she's kind..."_

"See, you feel better already, don't you?" said Marcy, giggling slightly as she let go of Sanza's hands. "Now cheer up... preferably before your spaghetti gets cold. School food is nasty enough as it is without being all cold and soggy."

What Marcy had said didn't reassure Sanza about Terra's safety... after all, Terra being a wonderful girl didn't make her any less vulnerable to being hurt by Slade. But it did make him think of her independently of the danger she was in, and for the briefest of moments, that _did _make him forget... and it made him happy, at least happy enough to begin eating his lunch.

"_As soon as I get out today, I'm going to Titans Tower... whatever Terra and the others are doing today, I'm going to be there to help. If Slade _is _going to attack her, I'm going to be there to protect her every step of the way."_

O-O-O

And Sanza did exactly that, making his way over to Titans Tower as soon as school let out for the day. His journey was hastened by the fact that he kept his Red X suit under his clothes, which meant that he didn't have to stop off at home... and before knocking on the front door, he changed into his Red X suit, putting his mask and gloves on last.

Inside, the Titans were busily preparing for their upcoming battle with the Brotherhood of Evil. Robin and Cyborg were in training, and Raven was meditating in her room... when Red X knocked on the door, it was Starfire who let him in.

"It is wonderful to see you... I do not know where the others are, but please, come... I am preparing a mid-afternoon snack that I am very much certain that you will enjoy!"

"Not interested," replied Red X, walking past Starfire and looking back and forth, his eyes scanning every corner of the room. "Where's Terra?"

"Oh..." Starfire bowed her head, slightly disappointed that Red X didn't want to sit down with her for a snack. _"When he had the crushing feeling towards me, he would have agreed to partake of my cooking in a second... _I have already informed you that I do not know, but... perhaps you could check in her room?"

"I'll do that."

And without another word, Red X left the room, making his way toward the elevator and leaving Starfire alone with her cooking. She let out a quiet sigh and floated over to remove the bubbling mixture from the oven.

O-O-O

When Red X entered Terra's room, he could see the blonde-haired geomancer seated with Beast Boy on the side of her bed. The two of them had been talking for quite some time, and Terra appeared to have recently been crying, wiping some tears from the side of her face.

"...if I've interrupted something-" Red X began, before Terra lifted up her head to look at him. She shook her head and smiled, glad to see that another one of her friends had shown up to talk to her.

"It's okay... you can sit down next to me if you want," she replied, patting a spot on the bed next to her, and gesturing for Red X to come over. When X began walking toward the bed, he could see that Terra was holding Beast Boy's hand, and once again, he began to feel wary about intruding on their conversation... as much as he cared about Terra and wanted to comfort her in what obviously was her time of need.

"Ever since Slade came back, Terra's been feeling kind of..."

"I figured that's what it was," said Red X, sitting down and finishing Beast Boy's sentence before he even got the chance to say exactly what Terra was feeling. _"Scared? Depressed? Guilty? All that matters is that I can see how bad she feels... and how much I don't want her to feel that way anymore."_

Terra hadn't told Beast Boy about her nightmares, but instead, had been talking with him about how sorry she was to have betrayed him... and no matter how many times he tried to tell her that it was water under the bridge, she just kept apologizing, over and over again... not so much to convince _him _that she was sorry, but to convince herself that she really did regret betraying the team.

"Thank you..." said Terra, smiling and looking down toward the floor. "Both of you... for being such good friends to me, no matter what."

"Well, you remember what I promised you, right?" asked Red X, causing Terra to look his way. "No matter what happens, you'll always have a friend in me."

The smile didn't leave Terra's face as she looked into Red X's eyes... but Beast Boy, sitting on the other side of the blonde, still had a look of concern.

"_Oh man..." _thought Beast Boy, knowing that with every word that Red X spoke, the changeling was getting closer and closer to no longer having a girlfriend... if he even still had one. _"Every time I say something to Terra, she feels bad! Every time Red X says something to Terra, she feels good... at least that's what it seems like! I mean, I can still make her laugh, but he can make her smile..."_

Terra looked over at Beast Boy again, her smile immediately disappearing once she saw the state of mind that her friend was in. She immediately placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to reassure him that just because Red X had entered the room, that he hadn't suddenly been excluded from the conversation.

"I know you feel that way about me too, Beast Boy..."

"Y...yeah, I do..." But in Beast Boy's voice was a hint of uncertainty... after all, when Terra had betrayed the team, he had been the first one to disown her... and whether she deserved it or not, whether she forgave him for it, he would always feel guilty about turning her away.

"Hey, how about we go outside and do some training or something," said Red X suddenly, trying to derail what had obviously become a very awkward conversation for both Terra _and _Beast Boy. "Not that _I _need any training, but with most of the villains in the city wanting to team up against you guys, it'd probably be a good idea to get at least a bit of exercise in, huh?"

Terra and Beast Boy both looked over at Red X, wondering what his motivation could possibly be for wanting to bring the conversation to such a sudden end. They then looked at each other, and the reason quickly became clear... both of them were starting to feel depressed and guilty again, and the thief's presence in the room had likely been the main cause.

Or, the more up-front reason... most of the villains in the city were out for blood, and the Titans really _did _need the training. Either way, it seemed like a good idea.

"All right, let's go!" said Beast Boy, getting up from the bed and pumping his fists. "Last one to the training area has to fight all the others by himself!"

Beast Boy ran out of the room, followed closely by Terra and Red X, who gave each other a single look as the door closed behind them. Both of them could tell exactly what the other was thinking... Terra felt bad for Beast Boy, and Red X felt bad for Terra.

"_You don't have to be sorry..." _thought Terra, though she knew that she couldn't possibly convey that in the less-than one second glance she gave Red X. _"I know I can't be feeling sorry for myself all the time, but... I do... the only time I don't is when I'm talking to you."_

As for Red X, the only thing he wanted Terra to know is that she had nothing to regret... no matter what she did in the past, he would always feel the same way about her that he did now.

"_I hope you don't think that I'm trying to pull you away from Beast Boy... as much as I really, really, really want you to pull _yourself _away..." _

As much as he didn't want to ruin the relationship that Terra already had, Red X was unapologetically in love with her.

O-O-O

In the central chamber of the large, X-shaped building that the Brotherhood of Evil was using as its headquarters, four large, liquid-filled tanks had been set up... and suspended inside them were the four unconscious members of the Doom Patrol. Oxygen masks had been placed over the faces of Mento and Elasti-Girl to keep their life force sustained, while Negative Man and Robot Man were left to their own devices, as the internal processes within their bodies would keep them alive while unconscious.

"These four will make excellent bait to lure the Teen Titans into our trap," said the Brain, who had been placed in front of the four containment capsules in order to address the rest of the Brotherhood. "Have our contacts been made aware of where we intend to send the Titans?"

"I have already told them to be standing by at the old construction yard outside of town," said Madame Rouge. She looked over at Slade, who was standing by himself in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall... while he had done well to capture the Doom Patrol, Rouge still didn't trust him... she never would, and wanted the Brotherhood's plans to be completed as soon as possible, so she would never have to lay eyes on Slade again. "Will you assist them in attacking the Titans?"

Slade did not move from his spot as Rouge addressed him. He raised his head to look up at her, and began to speak in a cold, emotionless voice.

"I'm going to stay here and watch the fun... I don't think I'll be needed. Three dozen of the city's worst criminals will be more than enough to deal with those pathetic children."

Rouge wanted to say something to Slade, something to the effect of, 'if you're so confident, why are you so afraid to go and fight the Titans as well?'

But she kept silent... her objections would be met with little more than a dismissive response from the Brain, and perhaps an indignant remark from Slade. It didn't matter. Whether or not Slade went to battle the Titans, they would be taken care of... nothing would stop the Brotherhood's plans from being a success.

O-O-O

Red X trained with the Titans for several hours... the only two that were absent from the training area were Starfire and Raven, but X got plenty of exercise in with the others. The drill that they were currently running was being coordinated by Cyborg... a two-on-two fight featuring Robin and Terra versus Red X and Beast Boy... and so far, it had been a stalemate.

"You're really quick, but let's see how you like being buried under a huge pile of rocks!" shouted Terra, smiling as her eyes began to glow, and she split the ground just a short distance in front of Red X's feet. The thief barely had time to react before dozens of rocks shot up from below, coming toward his head and chest. He blasted the incoming rocks with a pair of explosive Xs before tossing a set of metallic binding cables in Terra's direction. The cables wrapped around Terra's arms, pinning them to her sides but not knocking her down. She stumbled back for a moment and continued to run forward at top speed, her head lowered as she dashed toward her practice opponent. Fighting Sanza wasn't so bad when it was just for training purposes and no one could get hurt... but she was glad that Sanza was now on her side, so she'd never have to fight him for real.

"What happened to the rocks, huh?" asked Red X, stepping back and raising up one of his hands. _"Still don't want her ramming her head into my chest... I'd better turn out the lights."_

The thief fired a sticky X from his right hand, hoping to cover up Terra's eyes so that she couldn't see to headbutt him. She saw it coming, and craned her neck up just a bit, so instead of the X hitting her in the eyes, it sealed her lips instead. Not needing to talk to execute a fighting move, Terra continued charging forward... but knowing that X would probably be expecting a headbutt, she leapt into the air instead, swinging her legs up and placing the sides of her feet against the sides of X's head. She then flipped forward, using her leg strength to toss X back, over her head and onto the ground several yards away. He hit the simulated rocky ground hard on his back, letting out a cry of pain as Terra landed in a crouching position a few feet from his head.

"_Geez..." _thought Red X, looking over at the bound and gagged blonde who'd just put him on his back. _"That was pretty slick... guess she's a lot less delicate than I thought..."_

A few seconds later, Robin ran over and used one of his Bat-a-rangs to cut Terra's arms loose.

"That was an awesome move, Terra!" said Robin, smiling as he cut through the last of the metal bands securing Terra's arms to her sides. She reached up and peeled the X from her lips, smiling and giving Robin a bit of a giggle.

"Don't congratulate me, you're the one who taught me that move, after all..." said Terra, so engrossed in her conversation that she didn't see the large, green elephant charging toward her and her partner. "In fact-"

Beast Boy slammed into both Robin and Terra with incredible force, sending the two of them flying through the air. A second later, they hit the ground hard, landing on their backs in a position identical to the one Red X had landed in just moments before.

"Great shot, kid," complimented Red X, picking himself up from the ground and wiping some of the dust from his costume. He pointed his hands at the downed Robin and Terra and began to charge up a moderately-powerful energy blast. "Now let's finish them-"

The door to the training area slid open, and in ran Starfire, an urgent look on her face.

"All of you, quickly... something terrible has happened!!!"

O-O-O

Something terrible was right. Projected on the big screen in the main room of the Tower were the four tanks that contained the captured Doom Patrol members... and in front of them stood the Brain's pedestal, the skull-like design on its base staring at the Titans in almost mocking fashion.

Beast Boy was horrified... to see his former teammates, his mentors, captured by the Brotherhood of Evil... it was enough to bring a chill to his spine... several chills, and he was trembling so much that he could barely stand. It was a feeling that Red X knew very well... seeing his mother and sister broadcast on the screen as hostages several months ago in almost similar fashion.

"Come to the construction area on the northern outskirts of the city. If you come, their lives may be spared. If you do not come, they will die. You have one hour."

The Brain's instructions were simple and precise... outlining exactly what Beast Boy and the Titans had to do to save the Doom Patrol's lives. But of course, nothing was that simple, and underlying the Brain's message was the fact that just the night before, all of Jump City's villains had come together and had pledged to attack the Teen Titans all at once.

It was so obvious to the team that they didn't even need to say it... but Robin did anyway, the second that the screen flashed off.

"It's a trap," said Robin, turning to Red X and the other Titans with a solemn look on his face. "We're walking right into a trap."

"Congratulations, Captain Obvious," said Raven quietly, an equally grim look in her eyes. "But you know what we have to do."

"We have to save them..." said Beast Boy, as determined and as resolved as he'd ever been. "I know it's a trap, I know we're gonna get jumped as soon as we get there... but we have to save the Doom Patrol, they're heroes just like we are, and their lives are in danger because they're fighting the same fight that we're fighting!"

Obviously, the Titans weren't going to abandon the Doom Patrol... they wouldn't abandon anybody. They were heroes, and it was their job to save anyone in need, no matter how dangerous it was. Even Red X, who normally liked to stay out of trouble unless someone he cared about was in danger, seemed to be ready to accept the mission.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said the thief, looking around at the Titans and seeing the various looks of nervousness and disdain on their faces. "We gonna go kick some bad guy ass, or are we just gonna sit here making a plan?"

"Actually, we probably do need a plan," said Robin, who was already thinking about how the Teen Titans could possibly handle the massive group of villains that his team was about to face. "We don't have much time, but we can't just march in there... or we'll get destroyed. Even you know that, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy nodded, but right now, all that _he _could think about was his former teammates... the first people who'd taken him in after he'd acquired his powers. Mento was tough, and seemed to break Beast Boy down a lot more often than he ever built him up, but...

"_He's still the closest thing I have to a dad..." _thought Beast Boy, his eyes narrowed in anger... not toward Mento for talking down to him, but toward the Brotherhood of Evil, who had dared to kidnap four of the people Beast Boy cared about the most. _"Don't worry, guys... I'm coming to save you!"_

Terra could see the determination in Beast Boy's eyes, and she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. One look from Terra told Beast Boy that she was worried about the Doom Patrol too... and that she'd do everything she could to save them.

"It's gonna be okay, Beast Boy... don't worry..."

But despite Terra's reassuring words, Beast Boy didn't feel any better about the predicament his former team was in... and the angry expression on his face didn't change. Terra's hand slid from Beast Boy's shoulder and returned to her side, and she began to wonder if maybe she'd done something wrong by trying to cheer Beast Boy up... and once again, doubt found its way into her mind.

"_What if we can't save them...?" _thought Terra, bowing her head sadly and looking away from Beast Boy. _"It'll be my fault... I'll have let him down again...!! Oh... I can't keep putting myself through this..."_

But until Slade was defeated once again, it seemed as if Terra would never be truly at peace...

O-O-O

As Beast Boy walked down the long, dirt path leading to the future site of the Mulgrove Heights Office Park, only the natural light from the moon above and the artificial glow of the bright electrical spotlights surrounding the construction site illuminated the path ahead. As he got closer and closer to the site, its wide expanses fenced off by a tall, aluminum barricade circling all but the front entrance to the area, the glow from the spotlights grew brighter and brighter, until it was nearly as bright as day. Over the fence, he could see several tall cranes, along with two metal scaffoldings that towered nearly sixteen stories above the ground, and could barely make out the shadowy figures that were perched on them.

"_They're all waiting for me..." _thought Beast Boy, his nervousness and fear calmed only by his determination to save the Doom Patrol. _"Well, I'm not about to let my friends down! I don't care how many bad guys there are, I'll take all of them down!"_

As soon as Beast Boy walked through the separation in the solid aluminum fence, he could see a large, yellow construction crane about fifty feet away... and sitting on top of the crane with her legs crossed and dangling off the side was Jinx, leader of the H.I.V.E., and apparently, leader of the villain ambush. Looking around, Beast Boy could see nearly every other villain his team had ever faced... Mammoth, Gizmo, Mad Mod, Mumbo, Adonis, Atlas, Cinderblock, just to name a few... and several the team hadn't faced. There were more than thirty villains in all, scattered about the construction site and looking at Beast Boy as a group of buzzards would stare at a carcass... but what was worst of all, at least in Beast Boy's mind, was that the Doom Patrol was no where in sight.

"...where's the Doom Patrol?!" Beast Boy shouted, clenching his fists and looking up with contempt at the smiling Jinx.

"Where's your friends?" asked Jinx, leaping from the top of the crane and floating to the ground on a wave of pink energy. As soon as she landed, the villains in the construction park began slowly walking toward Beast Boy, but Jinx, the closest to him and the only one with a direct path to him, was slightly ahead of the others.

"We had a deal!" shouted Beast Boy. "If I came to this place, you'd let the Doom Patrol go!"

"Uh, Dweeb Boy, did you even _listen _to what the Brain said?" replied Jinx haughtily, her pace quickening as she got closer and closer to Beast Boy. "He said that if you came, their lives _may_ be spared. May, not 'will'. Big difference there."

And then, Jinx broke out into a full charge, along with all the other villains now converging on the front of the construction site and the lone Titan standing in the entrance. Not showing even a hint of fear, Beast Boy crouched into a fighting stance and transformed into a gorilla, narrowing his eyes and preparing to fight the crush of villains with everything he had.

As it turns out, he didn't have to. Robin's plan was about to be set into action.

"TITANS, NOW!"

Robin's loud instructions, delivered all the way from the other side of the construction site, were loud enough to distract the charging villains for just a fleeting moment, allowing Beast Boy several seconds to make a few quick blows. Jinx was his first target, and he sent her flying, his fist slamming into her face and knocking her back into the crowd. Next, Beast Boy swung out his massive arms in two directions, catching Mad Mod and Cheshire and sending them flying back as well. Before any of the villains could launch a counterattack, the rest of the Titans struck. Eye lasers, Starbolts, enormous blasts of dark energy, charged plasma cannon blasts, huge uprisings of earth, and Red X's most powerful explosive devices all hit the crowd of villains at once, creating a huge explosion that scattered the massive group to all corners of the construction site. The Titans and Red X, perched all around on various sections of the surrounding aluminum fence, watched eagerly and used their arms to shield themselves from the blast. Beast Boy, while he had been the closest to ground zero, knew that the blast was coming and was able to shield himself accordingly, raising his arms up and riding out the huge shockwave as it tossed him through the opening of the fence and sent him skidding down the dirt path about ten feet.

When the dust from the blast had settled, most of Beast Boy's attackers were lying on their backs, having been knocked down by the enormous explosion. The few that had been left standing were some distance away, and even they were coughing violently because of the large cloud of dust that the combined assault had kicked up. Robin looked around the construction site, and, seeing no sign of the Doom Patrol, quickly issued the order for the Titans to retreat.

"They're not here, we can't stay any longer!"

"No!" shouted Beast Boy, who had detransformed and was now running back through the opening in the fence. Though his first, initial glance gave him no sign that the Doom Patrol was being held at the construction site, there were plenty of places to explore... crevasses under buildings, behind large stacks of construction materials, inside elevators... even one of the port-a-potties could contain one of the captured Doom Patrol members. As unlikely as this was, Beast Boy wasn't going to give up until he'd searched every nook and cranny... and he didn't care if all the villains in the world were trying to stop him. "We can't leave now, this might be our only chance!"

"Beast Boy," said Robin quietly, now talking to Beast Boy on his communicator rather than having to yell over the long distance of the entire construction site, "if we stay here any longer, the criminals that came here to attack us will recover, and this will turn into a suicide mission. It's obvious that the Brain just led us here to get us right where he wanted us, if the Doom Patrol isn't here then we're not doing anything to help them by staying."

"I'm not giving up on them!" shouted Beast Boy, running past several fallen villains and making his way toward one of the large metal scaffoldings in the center of the construction site. "If you guys want to leave, then fine, but I'm not going back to the Tower until I know for sure that they're not here!"

Though it was against her better judgment, Terra wasn't about to let Beast Boy fight all of these villains by himself, and she immediately leapt down from the fence and ran to join him. Seeing this, Red X leapt down as well... he _had _to protect Terra. Raven and Cyborg quickly followed their lead, and finally, Starfire did as well, flying into the construction site even as most of the villains were finally peeling themselves up from the ground.

"_Beast Boy... dammit... this is probably the dumbest thing you've ever done," _thought Robin, leaping down from the fence as well. _"But I'm not about to abandon my team... dammit... we're playing RIGHT into the Brotherhood of Evil's hands."_

Terra and Red X converged on Beast Boy's location first, following him toward the shorter of the two building skeletons, the scaffolding of what was to one day be a fourteen-story office building. Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin did not form a group, but instead, scattered to the far ends of the construction site, with Starfire flying up toward the taller of the two unfinished buildings, Robin making his way over to the elevator, Raven entering a small maze formed by stacks of large cement blocks, and Cyborg heading toward a long row of bulldozers, two of which were occupied by a pair of the Titans' past foes: Trident and Johnny Rancid.

"I'm gonna run you over, metal man!" shouted Rancid, pushing a lever on the bulldozer's control panel all the way forward and causing it to charge the robotic Titan at top speed. "Prepare to be smashed to pieces!"

Cyborg turned toward the charging bulldozer and fired a blast from his plasma cannon, doing little damage to the machine's titanium plow. Seeing that he wasn't going to be able to stop it, he dove out of the way, watching as Rancid rolled past him and plowed over a long line of port-a-potties.

"_Well, I guess the Doom Patrol's not in there..." _thought Cyborg, rolling out of the way again as Trident's bulldozer came right at him. _"That's probably good to know..."_

As Cyborg played chicken with the two bulldozing villains, Starfire flew up to the top of a sixteen-story steel scaffold, looking straight down to ensure that the Doom Patrol hadn't been stashed somewhere in the building's brick basement.

"I do not see them..." said Starfire, standing precariously on top of a metal beam, completely unaware that the large, menacing Cardiac was looming right behind her. "I shall go and inform Beast Boy that-"

One of Cardiac's metal tentacles slammed into Starfire's leg, knocking her off-balance and sending her plummeting toward the ground below. About halfway down, she managed to stop herself, flying back up and firing dozens of Starbolts at the heart-shaped monster above. The Starbolts did no damage to Cardiac, but did destroy several of the beams supporting the upper floors of the building, and soon, the entire thing started to collapse on top of her. As two-ton metal beams came crashing down around her, Starfire continued her assault on Cardiac, which had leapt to another, more stable section of the building.

"You will not escape!" shouted Starfire, flinging Starbolt after Starbolt at Cardiac and taking more of the building down with each one she threw. "You will soon run out of places to stand, and then-"

Several thin metal legs wrapped around Starfire from behind, pinning her arms and immediately stopping her rain of Starbolts. She let out a scream and looked behind her to see Gizmo standing at the top of an elevator adjacent to the building, controlling a massive spider-bot that had just wrapped its legs around Starfire and was now holding her in place.

"Hey Cardiac, she's all yours now!" laughed Gizmo, manipulating a remote control in his hands that caused the legs wrapped around Starfire to constrict her tighter and tighter. She let out a scream as Cardiac leapt from the beam that it was on, landing on the one right next to the trapped Starfire and positioning an open tube above her head. "Pretty soon, you're gonna be Cardiac's dinner!"

"Somebody tell Cardiac that dinner's just been canceled."

Standing on another nearby beam was Robin, who'd just thrown one of his Bird-a-rangs. The sharp blades chopped off Cardiac's sucking tube, and a few seconds later, another one sliced off the spider-bot's legs, freeing Starfire and sending Gizmo into an angry tirade. However, Cardiac was not deterred, swinging one of its tentacles at both Robin and Starfire. The Tamaranian girl floated into the air and used her eye lasers to destroy the metal beam beneath Cardiac, collapsing that section of the building and sending the massive heart creature down more than two hundred feet to the ground.

"We are victorious!" cried Starfire, raising her right arm high into the air. Nearby, Robin quickly shook his head, pointing to several villains climbing their way up the scaffolding below. Some, like Punk Rocket, didn't even have to use the scaffolding... instead, the wild-haired rocker simply floated up on his guitar, landing right behind Robin and swinging the aforementioned axe straight at the Boy Wonder's head. Robin easily ducked under the blow and took out his staff, smacking Punk Rocket across the chest and knocking him onto his back. Before Robin could swing again, he could feel something pull the staff right out of his hand.

"What the...?!" stammered Robin, staring down at his empty hands and blinking several times. "It was right here, what happened to-"

Standing in front of him now was Cheshire, holding Robin's bo staff in her hands and baring a permanent grin on her face. She hit him with the staff several times before he even had the chance to react, knocking him off balance and nearly sending him tumbling off the beam that he was standing on... only to be saved by Starfire at the last moment.

"Robin, we must get off this building, there are too many!" shouted Starfire, holding Robin by the wrist. She flew up about fifty feet before beginning to descend, away from the partially-destroyed building skeleton that was now crawling with baddies. She found a safe spot down below and landed with Robin, breathing heavily for a moment before checking to see if her friend was all right. "That was... very complicated."

Robin nodded in agreement before taking another look at the unfinished building where he and Starfire were just standing. What he saw when he looked up amazed him... Cheshire had taken a standing leap from the top of the building and was now coming down toward Robin, swinging her staff right down at his head.

"_There's no way she can survive a fall like that...!!!" _thought Robin, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid what would almost surely be a crippling blow. Cheshire came down a second later, hitting the ground with Robin's staff and throwing up a large cloud of dust. She landed on her feet, her thin legs barely buckling under the force of the fall... then turned toward Robin and swung at him again, again coming within inches of hitting him in the head. "Starfire, help me get my staff away from her!"

As Starfire and Robin tangled with Cheshire, Raven was having troubles of her own, as Adonis, Atlas, and Mumbo had followed her into the aluminum maze. She could hear them coming from all sides, and she knew that if she floated up from where she was, Mumbo's magic would definitely be sufficient to bring her back down.

"_Beast Boy, I know the Doom Patrol means a lot to you, but we're outnumbered by about four-to-one here...!" _thought Raven, backing up against one of the walls, her palms lighting up as she prepared to hit her pursuers with a blast of dark magic. _"Then again, I can't really blame you... I'd do the same for any of the other Titans, but... I don't think the Doom Patrol is even here! That's why this is pointless."_

The twinge of annoyance and anger that Raven was feeling intensified the energy building up within her, and by the time that Mumbo, the first of the villains chasing her, showed his face, he promptly got a huge blast of energy to the chest for his trouble.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" screamed the blue-skinned villain, propelled towards a nearby wall by the massive energy blast. Just then, Raven could see Adonis and Atlas coming toward her from another passageway, and quickly reacted to stop them.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"

Taking telepathic control of two large aluminum panels, Raven swung them to the side, flipping them right in front of the villains' path and blocking them off. Thinking that she'd stopped them, she let out a sigh of relief, only to gasp when Atlas punched through both barriers, destroying them with a single blow. Dispensing with defense, Raven went on the attack, taking control of several more panels and sending them toward her two enemies. The panels knocked Atlas aside, but were then easily swatted away by Adonis, who leapt over his fallen comrade and came right at Raven, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her high into the air.

"I may not be a vicious beast anymore, but I still love making you squirm," said Adonis, his lips curving into a sadistic smile. As Raven clenched her teeth, a fearful look appearing on her face, she could see Mumbo coming back out of the corner of her eye.

"Hold her still," said Mumbo, pointing his magic wand at Raven. "I wanna try out one of my new tricks..."

As the tip of Mumbo's wand began to glow, all Raven could do was let out a quiet, fearful cry.

O-O-O

Beneath the fourteen-story office scaffolding, the partially-constructed basement area was a maze of dark, stone rooms going two stories down into the earth.

Somewhere down in these dark catacombs, Beast Boy was hoping to find the Doom Patrol... but with every time his calls to them went unresponded, it became more and more clear that the four captured heroes weren't going to be found anywhere at the construction site.

"Beast Boy, I don't think they're down here..." said Terra softly, _"and this place is giving me the creeps..."_

The stone structure was lit only by a series of hanging bulbs that served as a temporary lighting system that would allow construction workers to do their maintenance at night while the building was still under construction. The dim glow that the bulbs gave off gave the stone hallways an eerie quality, and it was hard to see very far off in the distance, even with lights glowing the entire length of the way.

"We gotta keep looking, maybe they're unconscious or something! I mean, they were unconscious in the transmission the Brain sent us, right?" Even as determined as he was, there was a growing desperation in Beast Boy's voice... it was becoming evident even to the changeling that the Doom Patrol would not be found. "Robotman...! Negative Man! ...RITA!!!"

No answer.

"I'm gonna go back up to the surface," said Red X, "and I suggest the two of you do the same."

"I... I..." Terra looked back and forth between Red X and Beast Boy, unsure about whether or not to continue the search below or join Red X above to help the rest of the team fight against an onslaught of villains. _"I... I don't know what I should do! Beast Boy needs me, he needs my help, but... Sanza's right, the Doom Patrol isn't here, and Beast Boy _knows _it..."_

"...fine, you can do what you want, but I'm staying down here! I'm not giving up!" shouted Beast Boy, tears starting to form in his eyes. Seeing the tears instantly sent a wave of guilt through Terra's body, and she turned back toward Beast Boy, looking back at Red X and telling him exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"I'm staying with Beast Boy, Sanza... I'm sorry, but-"

Red X let out a long, annoyed sigh, hoping that it wouldn't come down to a choice between protecting Terra and doing the logical, intelligent thing, which was to stop embarking on this fool's errand of searching for the Doom Patrol.

"Terra, come on... the Doom Patrol's not down here, but up there, the Titans are busting their butts...! They could be dead or captured, and you two are worried about the _Doom Patrol_? I'm all for helping Beast Boy's friends, but-"

"Maybe we'll find them faster if we split up," said Beast Boy, walking away from Terra and continuing to head down the long corridor leading to the other side of the basement. "I'll look over here again, you guys go down to the sub-basement and look down there, we'll cover a lot more ground and get back to the Titans faster!"

Before either Red X or Terra could question Beast Boy's decision, he'd disappeared into the darkness, leaving them to decide what to do on their own.

"Terra... I don't want to leave you behind, so... maybe we should go downstairs together, and-"

Terra shook her head, walking back over to Red X and taking his hand in hers.

"I'll be fine, Sanza... I'll go down to the basement, you go back up and help the others. You said it yourself, they need your help... but I need to stay here, for Beast Boy."

X could tell from the look in Terra's eyes that she was feeling guilty again... hoping to repent for her betrayal of the team by assisting in Beast Boy's search for the Doom Patrol, even if it was completely fruitless... and the thief could do nothing to convince her otherwise.

"Terra... I don't have a communicator, so-"

"If anything happens, I know you'll come for me..." Terra smiled as she spoke those last few words, and gripped X's gloved hands tightly in her own... she spoke with a confidence that he only heard when she was speaking to him... without any doubt, any guilt, any fear... "Don't worry."

And with that, Terra turned and walked away, heading straight for a red, metallic door that led down to the sub-basement of the building. X was tempted to follow her, but he knew that wasn't what Terra wanted... so instead, he turned and began walking toward another red door, behind which were stairs leading back up to the surface.

But then, he stopped... and a thought crossed into his mind.

"_You know, this part of the building could use another looking over... just to make sure there isn't anything I missed. Those Brotherhood guys could've stashed one of the Doom Patrol members in a closet or something, I'd better take one last look."_

And against his better judgment, X began taking another look through all of the previously-explored rooms of the basement... thinking that if he was just one floor above Terra's head, he could at least hear her if she screamed.

He barely even made it into a door on the left side of the hallway when he was hit by a barrage of white, sticky goo... it slammed into his body in clumps, sticking to his head, his back, and his left arm, engulfing his hand and rendering it motionless by pinning it to his side. When he turned around, he could see another clump of goo coming right toward his face, and was barely able to get out of the way by leaning his head to the side.

"That... is disgusting," said Red X quietly, freeing his left arm with a powerful tug. He could see a large, half-man, half-spider creature coming at him from just down and hallway... and at his side was a blonde, teenage girl clad in a silken pink gown. _"Oh, you have got to be kidding me... it's that rich senior bitch from my school..."_

The 'rich senior bitch', better known as Kitten, smirked as she and her boyfriend Fang continued down the hallway, placing her right hand on her hip while pointing at X with her left hand, giving Fang his marching orders.

"Fang, eat that guy alive, whoever he is!!" shouted Kitten, in her loud, screeching voice.

"Uh... are you sure he's not on our side?" asked Fang warily, preparing to apologize in the event that he'd inadvertently gooped one of his fellow villains. "I mean, he is dressed in black... I think he might be that robber from the news."

"He wasn't at the meeting, that means he must be working with the Titans, now kick his butt!!"

"I don't think so," said Red X, raising his palms and firing two Xs at Kitten and her boyfriend. The first X pasted itself to Kitten's mouth, muffling her loud cries and making it impossible for her to direct Fang's future attacks. The other X hit Fang and detonated in a violent explosion, throwing him backward across the hall. "I think that's just about the end of that."

But Kitten, watching in horror as her boyfriend was flung through the air, had other ideas. Clenching her fists in rage, she ran toward Red X and pummeled him in the chest with her fists, hitting him numerous times. The thief simply stood there and took the abuse, looking away from Kitten as she banged his fists repeatedly against his midsection.

"I don't know what you've heard, cutie, but I don't hit ladies... at least not ladies without any superpowers. So you can keep hitting me all day. Actually, I want you to, it feels good, kind of like a massage or something."

Letting out a loud, muffled squeal, Kitten proceeded to do the one thing that she _knew _would hurt Red X. She swung her foot into his groin as hard as she could. Immediately, X let out a loud, painful gasp, falling to one knee and groaning in agony. Kitten then reared back her fist and punched the thief in the side of the head, bringing him to the ground.

"_Who's the man now, dog?" _Kitten pointed down at the thief, her X-shaped gag doing little to stop her gleeful taunting. As soon as she was done, she launched into a little dance, swinging her fists and her hips back and forth and adding further insult to Red X's painful injury.

"_On second thought..." _thought the thief, slowly picking himself up from the ground, _"anyone who can bring me down like that can't be all that defenseless, so..._"

Standing up next to the still-celebrating Kitten, Red X threw back his fist, and launched a powerful right hook straight at the side of Kitten's face.

O-O-O

Down in the dark, barely-lit sub-basement, Terra was beginning to have second thoughts about allowing herself to be separated from the others... especially when she could hear the faint sounds of someone taunting her in the darkness.

"I know you're down here, little earth-movin' girl..." came a quiet voice with what appeared to be a Southern twang. "I'm gonna make you squeal like a piggy!"

"_What the heck...?" _thought Terra, attempting to peer through the darkness to see just who was down in the basement with her. _"Is that Billy Numerous...?"_

She began to walk a bit faster, then broke out into a run. Billy's taunts grew louder and louder, which meant to Terra that she must be getting close to his location... but when she reached the wall at the end of the hallway, she couldn't see him... but could hear his voice coming from her right, through a closed metal door.

"I'm coming to get you!" shouted Terra, throwing open the door to see Billy Numerous standing inside, snickering to himself. "What's so funny?"

Numerous pointed behind Terra, and the blonde immediately realized her mistake. Trembling, she turned around and saw more than a dozen of Numerous' clones standing behind her with various expressions of glee on their faces.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Instinctively, Terra threw up a huge column of rock, attempting to smash some of Billy's clones against the ceiling. She got a couple, but the rest of them leapt out of the way, each of them splitting so that there were now twenty clones facing Terra, in addition to the original Billy, standing behind her.

"Y'all have bitten off way more than you can chew!" shouted the original Billy, running at Terra and pushing her back toward his twenty clones. She tripped as she stumbled back, nearly falling but managing to stay on her feet. In desperation, she levitated twenty small chunks of rock from the floor beneath her and threw one at each Numerous clone, but each clone simply reached up and caught the rocks in its hands, showering Terra with various taunts.

"Oh, I love catch!"

"Yer pretty good at this!"

"Now it's your turn!"

The clones threw their rocks back at Terra, pelting her numerous times and causing her to fall to her knees, her teeth gritted tightly in anger. Letting out a loud scream, she took control of the nearby wall and thrust it forward, causing the large slab of rock to slam into all twenty clones, breaking up into a pile of rocks and burying the clones underneath. She then turned back to the original Billy Numerous, who was once again laughing, obviously privy to knowledge that Terra didn't have.

"What's so funny?" asked Terra, her arms on her hips. "I just kicked your clones' butts, and I know that after you've cloned yourself a bunch of times, you're really weak, so unless you have some kind of plan, I suggest you give up now."

"Nah, I got another surprise for you."

Suddenly, Terra found herself being lifted into the air by a set of large, powerful arms. The arms wrapped tightly around her, pinning her in place against the chest of whatever had just grabbed her... which in this case was the largest member of the H.I.V.E. Five, Mammoth.

"Hahahaha, betcha thought you had us beat, huh?" said Mammoth, taunting Terra as she struggled in his grasp. Behind him were See-More and Kid Wykyyd. "Hey Billy, isn't she the one that Jinx really hates?"

"Yeah, Mammoth, ah think she is!" said Billy Numerous, pinching Terra's left cheek. "Ah bet she's really gonna like it when we bring you to her all wrapped up on a nice, purdy silver platter! So, what's it gonna be? Should we hogtie ya, or just scrunch ya up in a tiny little box?"

"Unnngh... let... me... go!!!" screamed Terra, thrashing in Mammoth's grasp. _"Sanza... Beast Boy... oh no... I failed them both...!"_

But before Terra even had time to lament her capture, she found herself being flung with great force into the hard bedrock behind the wall she'd just destroyed. The blow knocked her out in an instant, leaving her completely at the mercy of the four H.I.V.E. members.

O-O-O

After five minutes of intense hand-to-hand combat, Robin had come no closer to re-taking his bo staff than he had been when Cheshire had first stolen it. To make matters worse, he would receive no help from Starfire, who had her hands full in a four-on-one brawl against Jinx, Control Freak, Mad Mod, and Dr. Light.

"Don't you... ever give up...?" shouted Robin, who had begun to wear out, and was breathing much quicker than before. Sweat was pouring down his face, but his opponent Cheshire was showing no signs of exhaustion... she retained her wide grin and seemed as energetic as ever. _"This is getting _really _serious..."_

Nearby, Starfire was having an immense amount of trouble keeping up with four of the Titans' most persistent foes... just avoiding Jinx's attacks was proving to be a chore.

"Robin, I wish so terribly that I could assist you!" Starfire called out, lifting up from the ground and firing a flurry of Starbolts down at her four opponents. Mad Mod lifted up his cane and countered them all, conjuring up an army of large teddy bears to absorb each and every one of Starfire's blasts.

"That's the way to take one for the team!" said Control Freak, laughing as he pointed his remote up at Starfire. "Now I'm gonna shut you off _permanently_!"

But as he pressed one of the buttons, a blue energy beam slammed into his hand, knocking the remote away from him and causing him to let out a cry of pain. He looked behind him to see Cyborg, running toward Robin and Starfire to assist them, while at the same time being pursued by a tag-team of Katarou and the Puppet King.

"Booyah!" shouted Cyborg, pumping his fists as he joined two of his teammates in their fight. "Star, you take out the karate master and the puppet freak, I'll handle the rest of these clowns..."

Undaunted by their new opponent, Jinx and Dr. Light continued their assault, combining their powers to form a spiraling beam of pink and white energy that zoomed toward Cyborg's chest. Cyborg pointed his plasma cannon at the beam and fired a blast of his own, overwhelming Jinx and Dr. Light's attack and sending them both flying. They landed on their butts some distance away, and Jinx gave Dr. Light an angry look as several more villains rushed past them.

"Never, _ever _combine attacks with me again," said Jinx, picking herself up off of the ground and running back to re-join the fight. "You're weaker than a wet noodle!"

Suddenly, an enormous dark energy explosion from nearby drew both Jinx and Dr. Light's attention to what was once a storage area for hundreds of aluminum panels. The panels were now rushing outward in all directions, away from a dome of glowing black light, above which hovered Raven, her eyes glowing bright red. Beneath her could be seen the unconscious forms of Adonis, Atlas, and Mumbo, whose cornering of the half-demoness had activated her strongest emotions... and at the same time, her strongest powers.

"Oh... oh... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Upon seeing an image that had appeared so many times in his nightmares, Dr. Light ran screaming from the construction site, leaving his battle with the Teen Titans behind. Jinx simply watched Raven in shock and amazement.

"_I wish I could do that..." _Jinx mused jealously to herself, just before being nudged out of the way by a short, unimpressive figure that appeared to be made entirely out of paper. "Hey!"

"I'll handle her..." said Malchior quietly, making his way toward Raven as she descended back to the ground. Jinx shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to Starfire and Cyborg, who were now fending off the attacks of about half a dozen villains as Robin and Cheshire continued to battle it out nearby.

O-O-O

_Expecting to wake up in some state of bondage or duress, it came as an immense shock to Terra when she blinked open her eyes and found herself kneeling on a cold, stone floor... her eyes staring up at a pair of amber-tinted stained-glass windows._

_It took her mind only a few seconds to recall where she had seen them last... the underground cavern which she and Slade used as their lair as they plotted their attack on the city and on the Teen Titans._

"_What... no, no, this can't be... this place was destroyed!" Terra stood up and stared at the windows, then looked down at what she was wearing... the same light-blue bodysuit that she'd worn as Slade's apprentice. "No... this is... NO!"_

_She tugged and tugged at the suit, but was unable to take it off, just like when it had been attached to her skin by Slade's neuro-connectors. As she tried to pull off the bodysuit, she could hear Slade's voice in her ear..._

"_Dear child, you don't have any friends."_

"_You made a promise... and it's a promise I intend to make you keep."_

"_STOP IT!!!" Terra cried out, trying harder and harder to pull the bodysuit off of her chest. "I DON'T WORK FOR YOU ANYMORE!"_

"_But you did, Terra... and you enjoyed it."_

_Finally, she could see him... emerging from the shadows, his eye staring into both of her own... Terra could feel her hair now falling over one of her eyes, mirroring Slade's deformity and once again signifying her status as his apprentice._

"_You chose to betray the Titans... you chose to fight them... you wanted to kill them, Terra."_

_  
"No... no..." _

_She fell to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes, her arms and legs beginning to tremble. She looked up at Slade, who was now standing over her, looking down at her with contempt._

"_And the only reason you stopped serving me is because they beat you, Terra. Admit it. You tried to fight them, but you couldn't. They were going to kill you, just like you were going to kill them... and you ran away, ran away like the scared little child you are."_

"_No..."_

_Terra was now sobbing violently, uncontrollably, a puddle of tears forming beneath her body. Everything Slade said was true... _

"_You're a coward, Terra. A pathetic coward. You know why you don't have any friends? Because you don't deserve them."_

"_Stop it..." sobbed Terra, her head bowed, her body trembling violently. "Stop... you're right... you're right... I'm a pathetic coward... I don't deserve any friends..."_

O-O-O

And when Terra woke up, she was still sobbing... her bruised body curled into the fetal position, which is how she was when Red X found her.

"Terra... it's all right... you're safe now...!"

As Red X knelt down beside Terra, the battered and beaten H.I.V.E. Five members that had attacked her groaned in pain behind him, having been rendered nearly unconscious by a furious series of attacks from the costumed thief. Terra looked up at Red X through tearful eyes, not knowing whether she should accept his helping hand or continue to lie on the ground... as pathetic as she was, she didn't even deserve the help that Red X came to give.

"Terra...? Terra! ...whoa," said Beast Boy, walking up to Red X and Terra while stepping over the bodies of the fallen H.I.V.E. members. "Did you guys... Terra?!"

Before Beast Boy could get the details of the H.I.V.E. Five's defeat, he forget that he even wanted them. Seeing Terra on the ground, sobbing fearfully in Red X's arms, instantly brought a wave of guilt and sadness through Beast Boy's body, and he quickly rushed to Terra's aid, assisting Red X in picking the geomancer up from the ground.

"I found her like this after getting the H.I.V.E. Five off of her..." thought Red X. His initial thought, obviously fueled by his experiences with Cleo, was that the four criminals had been trying to have their way with her, which sent a surge of furious adrenaline through his body that allowed him to defeat the four villains in a very short amount of time. He had no idea that it was a nightmare, and not the villains, that had caused the girl he loved such intense distress. "Terra, were they trying to..."

He couldn't bring himself to say it, but Terra knew what he meant, and quickly shook her head.

"Then what was it?" asked Beast Boy softly, with as much sympathy as he could. "What happened?"

"I... I..." Terra looked away from him, biting her lip and letting out another sob. _"I can't... I can't tell him... about my dream..."_

"It's okay, Terra... I'm here... and Sanza too... whatever happened, it's over now..." said Beast Boy, wrapping his arms tightly around Terra's back and pulling her close. Red X watched the embrace solemnly, looking behind him and giving the groaning H.I.V.E. members a look of contempt.

"_If I find out you WERE trying to do anything like that to Terra, I swear I'll come back and bash all of your skulls in..."_

The embrace from Beast Boy managed to calm Terra down a bit, and when he released her, she was even able to give him a smile.

"I'm okay, Beast Boy..." said Terra, before walking over and hugging Red X as well. "Thank you, too... if you hadn't shown up... those guys would've probably taken me prisoner or something..."

"Yeah..." replied Red X, wrapping his arms tightly around Terra's back, while at the same time silently thanking God that he'd managed to save Terra in time. "They probably would have... and speaking of prisoners, I think we'd better get upstairs now, before the rest of the team gets captured just like the Doom Patrol."

"I agree," said Beast Boy, following Red X and Terra as they made their way back toward the stairs leading up to the surface. "I looked all over this place, but... the Doom Patrol's not here."

After letting out a long, guilty sigh, Beast Boy bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Beast Boy..." said Terra, still sniffling as she looked back at Beast Boy and gave him a reassuring smile. "You had to make sure..."

"Yeah, but... I almost got you hurt... I mean, splitting up? What was I _thinking_?"

"Hey, it could've happened to anyone," said Red X, heading with Terra and Beast Boy up to the first level of the basement. "I mean, for a while, I was getting my butt kicked by _Kitten_."

O-O-O

By the time Beast Boy, Terra, and Red X made it back to the surface, the other four Titans had regrouped... but so had the villains, who were now backing the four heroes up against the fence at the rear of the construction site. At the front of the group of bad guys were Malchior, Jinx, and Cheshire, the latter of whom still had Robin's staff and was twirling it menacingly in her hands.

"Raven, a shot of that awesome attack you used on Mumbo and his buddies might be pretty useful right about now..." said Cyborg, his blaster pointed at the oncoming group of villains as he and his comrades continued walking backwards toward the fence.

"I'm working on it..." whispered Raven, though from the weakened tone of her voice, it was quite clear that most of her energy had been spent getting herself away from Mumbo, Adonis, and Atlas. _"This could be the end..."_

"HEY!" shouted Beast Boy, waving from the scaffolding of the nearby fourteen-story building. He transformed into a tyrannosaurus and let out a loud roar, diverting the attention of the villains for a moment and allowing the other four Titans a brief respite. Flanking him on either side were Red X and Terra, who, while sore and exhausted, were still prepared to fight as long as they could... knowing that the Doom Patrol was not at the construction site, all they had to do was put up enough of a fight to allow some or all of them to escape.

"Aw, I sent most of the H.I.V.E. Five in there to get you guys..." said Jinx, rolling her eyes as she realized what had most likely happened. "Bunch of useless morons..."

The large group of villains split into two, half going for Robin and his group, while the other half charged toward Beast Boy, Terra, and Red X. The two groups went into battle stances, preparing for what was sure to be an intense battle... when suddenly, dozens of explosive arrows rained down on the two villainous crowds, sending them both into disarray. Before they knew it, they were being met with more arrows, accompanied by large yellow energy blasts which threw up even more explosions, creating a cloud of dust that concealed the heroes from view.

"Dude...!" said Beast Boy, detransforming and turning toward the entrance to the construction site. "Look!"

Terra and Red X looked over to see what Beast Boy was pointing at, but...

"Uh, Beast Boy...? I've never seen_ any _of those people before," said Terra, shrugging her shoulders.

"Neither have I," replied Red X, "but the one with the bow looks a _lot _like Robin."

Standing in the construction site's entrance were the five members of Titans East... Speedy, Bumblebee, Aqualad, and the twin duo of Mas y Menos. They began to charge toward the cloud of dust where they knew a large group of villains were lurking, but stopped short when they saw four of the Titans emerge from the cloud instead.

"Speedy!" shouted Robin, smiling for the first time since the battle had begun. "You made it!"

"Hey there, Cyborg..." said Bumblebee slyly, looking into Cyborg's eyes and giving him a warm smile. "Glad to see you didn't get your butt kicked _too _badly..."

"Heya, ladies," said Aqualad, looking back and forth between Starfire and Raven, who didn't seem quite as happy to see them as he usually was. "Uh..."

"Normally, I'd be crushing on you," said Raven, "but there's still a bunch of criminals back there who are still looking to grind us into dust, so let's save the 'hellos' for a moment and get to the 'goodbye'."

"Raven's right, this is our only chance to escape!" said Robin, looking behind him to see the dust clearing around a very angry and still very large group of villains. "They still outnumber us more than two-to-one... let's get back to the Tower."

The leader of the Titans then turned toward Beast Boy, who, along with Red X and Terra, had walked over to rejoin the group.

"If that's... all right with you, anyway," said Robin, a hint of anger still visible on his face.

"The Doom Patrol's not here," sighed Beast Boy, bowing his head with a mix of disappointment and guilt. _"But wherever they are... I just hope they're all right."_

"Good," said Raven, standing in the center of the twelve-member group of heroes and concentrating all of her remaining energy. "I'm gonna take us right back to the Tower, Robin and Cyborg, you can pick up your vehicles later. Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"

A raven-shaped portal of energy appeared, wrapping around the two teams of Titans and Red X and instantly delivering them back to the Tower, just as the villains had gathered back around for another attack.

"Awww... those buttsniffing wusses chickened out on us!" shouted Gizmo, angrily stomping his feet in frustration.

"It's all right..." said Malchior, turning toward the group of villains. His mouth could not be seen, but in his eyes was the slightest hint of a smile. "We have accomplished our goal. The Titans East have arrived, and more heroes will surely follow."

The other villains nodded, knowing that they'd done exactly what the Brain had instructed them to do. The Titans knew they couldn't fight all of the city's criminals at once... and had sent out for help. The war for control of Jump City had begun.

"As soon as all the other young heroes get here, the Brain's gonna tell us exactly how to kick their butts... and I for one can't wait to take the Titans down for good!" shouted Jinx, smiling and raising her arm into the air. "To the destruction of the Teen Titans!"

A loud, boisterous cheer went up from the assembled crowd, just as Kitten, Fang, and the beaten-up members of the H.I.V.E. Five emerged from the basement of one of the unfinished buildings.

"Unnnh..." groaned Mammoth, rubbing his sore backside in pain. "What'd we miss?"

O-O-O

Back in the main room of Titans Tower, Titans West and Titans East had gathered around to discuss exactly what they were going to do next.

"We got your call an hour ago and came as fast as we could," said Bumblebee. In preparation for the rescue mission, Robin had called the members of Titans East, who had gotten in their plane and had crossed the length of the country, from Steel City in eastern Pennsylvania to Jump City in western California, in just under an hour. "Looks like we got here just in time..."

"I didn't want to call you guys at first... you see, the Brain_ wants _all the young heroes in the world to come to the city... he's already devising a plan to take us all out, and he's going to use all of our arch-enemies to do it," said Robin, looking around at the heroes assembled in the room. "By calling you guys... I've done exactly what the Brain has planned for."

"Yeah, but _come on_," said Speedy, reclining on one of the couches and displaying a confident smile. "The Brain is probably the only villain in the world who actually WANTS heroes to come fight him. But he's gonna regret the day he wanted _me _to come here... for a giant brain, he's really not all that smart."

"I know you're confident, but... he's planned for everything," said Beast Boy. "And he _still _has the Doom Patrol!"

"I know, Beast Boy..." said Raven, reaching over and placing a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "But we're going to get them back... I promise we will."

"And on top of that," said Robin, looking over at the members of Titans East with a solemn glare, "the Brotherhood of Evil is working with_ Slade_."

"So?" Speedy's smile grew even wider, conveying his supreme sense of confidence. "You've told me about how smart Slade is, but he's still one guy... and when Titans East and Titans West gets together, we can't be stopped."

"I've also contacted some of the other heroes that we've come into contact with," said Bumblebee, "right before we left. In our travels, we've added a few 'honorary Titans' to the team... they should be arriving at the city sometime in the next day or two."

"So it's started..." said Robin quietly, almost to himself. _"The final battle between good and evil... just as the Brain wanted..."_

As the Titans continued to discuss the matters at hand, Terra found it increasingly hard for her to follow the conversation. She'd tried to block her recent nightmare out of her mind, but Slade's words just kept replaying in her head, over and over... and she quickly realized that she couldn't keep the tears from returning to her eyes. Without a word, she got up and left the room... but only two people noticed her: Beast Boy, and Red X. The rest were still engrossed in conversation, debating about how best to stop the Brotherhood's plans against the city.

"I say, as long as the Brotherhood of Evil has the Doom Patrol as bargaining chips, he has a decisive advantage against us, no matter _how _many heroes we bring in," said Bumblebee. Several Titans, both West and East, nodded their heads in agreement.

"But we do not know where they are... and no methods with which to find out, either..." Starfire replied, a worried look on her face. "We must first concentrate all of our attention towards locating Slade... he is perhaps more dangerous than all of the Brotherhood of Evil put together."

"What's wrong with Terra...?" whispered Beast Boy, looking toward the door through which she'd exited with intense concern on his face. "Someone's gotta go talk to her..."

"I'll go," said Red X, rising from the couch and walking back toward the door. He knew that something terrible had happened to Terra, and though he thought that perhaps the H.I.V.E. members who attacked her may have tried to rape her, the look in her eyes when she shook her head indicated quite clearly to Red X that she was telling the truth, that it was something else bothering her... and he had to find out what. "Beast Boy, you can come too if you want..."

Beast Boy started to get up, but he could hear the conversation continuing behind him, and with the subject mostly concentrating on the Doom Patrol, he knew he had to have a say in any decisions that the two teams made. With a heavy heart and a great deal of regret, he sat back down on the couch and shook his head.

"It's okay... you go talk to her... I know you'll say the right thing."

"You sure...?"

"Yeah," said Beast Boy, a slight smile on his face. _"Anything I could say would just make her feel worse... if she's sad about what I think she's sad about..."_

Without saying anything more, Red X stood up and left the room. He knew exactly where he'd find Terra.

O-O-O

She was sitting on the roof of the Tower, her head in her hands, tears pouring down her cheeks. The cool night wind blew past her face, brushing against her tears and making her cheeks feel a cold sting as they rolled down. She could hear someone coming up behind her, but didn't look up to see who it was... when she felt the hand on her shoulder, she knew exactly who'd come to comfort her.

"_Sanza..."_

He'd removed his mask and gloves, laying them down on the stone floor of the roof before gently placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Terra... you said you could talk to me about anything, so-"

She stood up and turned toward him, burying her face in his costumed chest and letting out several sobs, her arms hanging limp against her sides. Sanza's arms slowly wrapped around her back, and he held her close, trying to calm her with soothing words.

"It's all right... don't cry..."

"It's _not _all right, Sanza..." whispered Terra, her muffled voice barely discernible against his chest. "Sanza, I don't deserve to be on this team... I don't deserve to have friends, I don't deserve any of it... I don't deserve _you_..."

"Terra... that's bullshit and you know it."

She immediately looked up into his eyes, her own eyes narrowing slightly... for a moment, she mistook Sanza's words to be hostile, and she thought about shoving him away... but when she saw his own eyes, the understanding, the concern visible on his face... her expression softened a bit, and she leaned her head into Sanza's chest again.

"But... when I... when I betrayed the team, the only reason I came back is because they were beating me! Because I was scared, Sanza, that's why... that's why I..."

Sanza wrapped his arms even tighter around Terra, resting his chin on the top of her head and softly stroking his hands through her long, blonde hair.

"That's why I came back... because I'm a coward."

"Terra, you sacrificed yourself, you gave your life to save the city... you are not a coward, you have _never _been a coward."

She kept her face buried in his chest, letting out another sob and gripping her fingers tightly around Sanza's arms.

"I know you've done terrible things in the past... I know you betrayed the Titans, but... I don't care... no matter what you did, or what you do, nothing's going to change how I feel about you, Terra."

Now the words were no longer coming from Sanza's head, no longer formulated by the comforting instinct he had for her since the day they'd met. Now they were coming from his heart, now he was speaking the words he'd wanted to tell her since the last time they were on the roof of the Tower, since the moment Sanza started to realize that he might be falling in love with this girl who had been through everything he'd ever been though and more, this girl who knew how he felt, and knew what it was like to be good, and to be evil, and to not know what to do, and to be scared...

"No matter what... I'll always care about you, Terra."

She started to look up, her eyes once again beginning to look into his own.

"No matter what... Terra... I... I... I love-"

Terra's fingers softly pressed against his lips, stopping Sanza from uttering that final word. She didn't want to hear it from his lips... she wanted to see it in his eyes.

And the second that she saw it, her fingers slid down from Sanza's lips. As tears continued to streak down Terra's face, she leaned forward and closed her eyes, and...

She kissed him. And then, she kissed him again. Her arms wrapped around Sanza's body, and she kissed him a third time, her lips parting slightly to engulf his own. For a moment, Sanza was surprised by the sudden kisses, but by the time Terra kissed him a fourth time, he was ready, and he parted his own lips, his eyes closing and his mouth moving forward to capture Terra's in passionate emotion... and this time, it didn't break away. This fourth kiss lasted for nearly ten seconds, which gave Terra more than enough time to lift up from the roof of the Tower the small chunk of concrete on which she and Sanza were standing. As the two parted from this long, passionate kiss, the concrete began to rapidly fly outward, toward the Jump City skyline... with Terra and Sanza going along for the ride.

Sanza looked down briefly and could see the ground several hundred feet below moving rapidly beneath him... and could then see rapidly-moving water as the two teenagers began to cross the bay. He looked back at Terra, but before he could protest, she kissed him again, a kiss just as long and just as passionate as the last... and by the time _this _kiss was over, Sanza didn't care that he and Terra were now flying... because all it meant was that his physical circumstances were reflecting exactly the feeling that his heart was having at that very moment.

"_My heart is soaring..."_

The lights of downtown Jump City now glistened brilliantly below, a sea of color illuminating the two lovers as they embraced passionately on a small piece of rock just above the bustle of the cityscape.

Sanza now clutched Terra tightly to his chest, smiling down at her and at the sheer beauty of the moment, both physical and emotional. She looked up, and he reached down to wipe the tears off of her now-smiling face... her eyes reflecting happiness that Sanza had never seen, not even once since the two had first met.

"Let me guess..." he said quietly, his hand resting against the side of Terra's face. "You love me too, right?"

Without saying anything, Terra leaned her head back against Sanza's chest and turned the rock around, heading back across the bay toward Titans Tower. Her smile told Sanza everything he needed to know... and he kissed Terra again, this time on her forehead.

"_Don't worry, Terra... I promise, I'll never let Slade hurt you again."_

The rock came in for a landing, gently sliding into place right where Terra had first pulled it out. Now back on the roof of the Tower, Terra finally released her arms from around Sanza and took a step back, looking up into his eyes with a bright, joy-filled smile. There wasn't a single tear on her face.

"Yes, Sanza... yes, I do. Thank you... thank you for everything."

She slid her right hand down and wrapped it around Sanza's left hand, interlacing her fingers with his and turning back toward the roof's entrance.

For the first time in her life, Terra finally knew for sure that no matter what happened, no matter what she did, she would always have someone standing beside her... and she no longer had to fear the demons of her terrible past.

"Let's go back downstairs now... I'm sure the others are wondering where we are."

"_Beast Boy already knows..." _thought Sanza, wondering to himself exactly how Beast Boy would take the news as he leaned down to pick up his mask and gloves. _"But then again, I asked him if he wanted to come up here..."_

As Terra and Sanza walked back toward the roof's entrance, they knew that the city was still in danger... knew that they still had a mission to complete. But they also knew that no matter what happened, and no matter who tried to hurt them, they'd always have each other... and even Slade couldn't tear them apart.

O-O-O

Or could he...? Mwahahaha... so it's not a cliffie, and everything's looking up. Sanza and Terra are together, Titans East has come to town, with more heroes on the way! But with the Doom Patrol still held hostage, the Brotherhood of Evil still has a slight edge over our team of heroes. And we all know that Slade could still be the most dangerous villain of all... what does he have planned for Sanza and the others? Stick around to find out!


	8. Padre

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

"I can't believe it..."

Maria Salazar was in her living room, staring wide-eyed at the television screen as her son Sanza entered the room. The local news was on, and one of the stories had distressed Maria so severely that she was gripping the armrests of her chair hard enough that the normally bronzed skin of her fingers had turned almost completely white, and on her face was reflected a combination of rage and despair.

"Mom, what's wrong...? You look pale..."

"Sanza, they just released the man who murdered your father."

"WHAT?!"

Now Sanza was staring at the television screen, his face displaying the same shocked, angry reaction as his mother's. There, on the television, was the scarred, bearded face of Enricio Calderez, ex-leader of a vicious criminal street gang that had once been a bitter rival of the gang that Sanza's father Miguel used to run with. Miguel had quit the gang almost as soon as he'd met Maria, but old grudges and rivalries die hard, and despite not being a member of the gang for nearly ten years, his old affiliation had gotten him shot to death.

"Why the hell are they letting him out...?" shouted Sanza, turning to his mother and demanding to know the rest of the news story.

"They paroled him because he agreed to be an informant and turn in some of his other gang members," replied Maria. "Because they made a deal with him, the parole was automatic... they didn't even call us to be at the hearing."

"...oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Sanza's skin went pale, and he blinked several times, almost as if he was about to pass out. Just the previous night, he'd had the happiest moment of his entire life when Terra had finally confessed her feelings for him, and the two became a couple... and now, just eighteen hours later, this bombshell rocked Sanza's world. The man who'd murdered his father in cold blood was being released from prison just ten years into a life sentence... and there was nothing that Sanza, Maria, or anyone else could do about it.

Sanza could no longer bear to look at the television screen. He turned toward the stairs and exited the living room without a word.

"Sanza, you know you can't... please, don't try anything-"

Maria knew just how distressed her son was over his father's death. In the ten years since Miguel's murder, Sanza had never fully been able to get over it, and it had been the driving force behind much of his life ever since... including the thievery of the Red X suit from Titans Tower. Maria also knew that her son had a penchant for revenge... his actions against Mumbo, and to some extent, Slade, were testimony to that, and several times over the past ten years, Sanza had sworn that if he ever came across his father's murderer, that he would kill him...

"_What am I thinking...? Jump City's the last place that thug son of a bitch would be coming back to..." _thought Maria, who was just as angry as Sanza was over Calderez's release, though she was much better at internalizing her anger than her emotional son was. _"The chances of Sanza running into him are slim to none... but please, Sanza, I beg of you, do not seek revenge... for it is not what the Lord would want of you..."_

O-O-O

Several explosions appeared behind Starfire in rapid succession as she flew over a forested paradise. She looked down at the trees and the river beneath her, and knew that disappearing into the terrain would be her only chance for escape.

She dove just in time to avoid another explosion, disappearing into a grove of trees and landing in a small clearing. Having evaded her pursuers, she looked around to make sure that no one had spotted her... then, cautiously, she took out her communicator and began hailing her companions.

"Cyborg, do you read me... Cyborg!"

"Sorry to tell you this, Star, but I've got problems of my own! I'll have to call you back!"

Nearby, Cyborg was leaping from tree to tree, his clunky metal body doing him little favors as bright yellow blasts of energy lit up the forest around him and sent several trees and hundreds of branches plummeting to the ground behind his back. He landed on a large branch that cracked under his weight, and let out a scream, struggling to retain his balance.

"You know, using a tree branch to support yourself isn't the smartest thing to do when you're half-metal," advised a female voice from below. When Cyborg looked down, he could see Bumblebee standing at the base of the tree, one hand on her hip and the other pointing a B-shaped energy conduit up at him. "One way or another, you're coming down."

Cyborg barely had time to respond before Bumblebee fired another energy blast up at him, sending both him and the branch he was standing on plummeting to the ground.

In the river, Terra was swimming as quickly as she could beneath the churning waters. She looked behind her and could see Aqualad rapidly gaining.

"_Oh man... I never should've gotten into a swimming contest with somebody who's basically a human fish..." _thought Terra, who had only been able to keep her black-haired pursuer at a safe distance by using her powers to raise up sections of dirt from the riverbed to block Aqualad's path. She sent up another large chunk of sedimentary rock, which Aqualad easily disintegrated by forming a whirlpool that ground the chunk of rock to muddy dust. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Terra floated up to the surface and tried to appeal to Aqualad to let her take a break. "Hey, maybe we could swap out or something! Me for Beast Boy?"

"I think your green friend's got his hands full with Mas y Menos," said Aqualad, smiling to himself before forming a whirlpool beneath Terra and sucking her under the waves.

Near the control console, Beast Boy had transformed into a cheetah, the only animal nearly fast enough to avoid Mas y Menos' quick attacks... but even this form was outpaced by the two lightning-fast brothers.

"_Oh man...!!!" _thought Beast Boy, watching as the two ran up and slammed into him again, knocking him hard on his back and forcing him to detransform. Groaning, he looked over at Raven, who was standing behind the simulator's control console with a scowl on her face.

"Don't look at me," said Raven, turning a knob on the console and causing the grass beneath Beast Boy's body to be sucked beneath the ground. "You've spent the last ten minutes completely embarrassing yourself."

"Oh, come on, Raven!" shouted Beast Boy, standing up and extending his hands out in a pleading gesture. "Can't you make a tree pop up in front of them or something? _Anything _to slow those guys down!"

"When we're fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, is a tree going to pop up to slow _them _down? No. This training is important, Beast Boy, and I'm not giving you any shortcuts just because we're on the same team. If the only way you're going to get better is to get your butt kicked, then so be it."

As Beast Boy stared at Raven, continuing to plead his case, Mas y Menos ran over him again, plowing the changeling face-first into the ground. Raven let out a sigh, rolling her eyes and stepping out from behind the console.

"Then again, when we're fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, I _will _be able to slow them down..." said Raven, extending her palm toward the speeding Mas y Menos and beginning to chant her meditation phrase. "Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"

Suddenly, the two brothers found themselves engulfed with dark energy. A large explosion of dark energy sent both of them flying in opposite directions, screaming in Spanish as their tiny bodies rocketed through the air. She looked over at Beast Boy, who raised his head up from the dirt and gave her a smile.

"I'm only gonna do that once," the half-demoness remarked, resuming her place behind the console so that she could monitor the rest of the training session. _"I just hope that I won't have to save you when we're fighting for real... I know you're stronger than this, Beast Boy."_

O-O-O 

Now back in his room, Sanza was lying face-down on his bed, holding a picture of his father that he'd taken from the small desk next to the wall. He held the picture up at eye-level and stared at it for several seconds... Miguel Salazar, a man of slightly above-average height and fairly skinny build, black hair passing just below his neckline, with a scar on his right cheek that he'd received in a knife fight as a teenager, was standing proudly next to his wife Maria. In front of them was Sanza, six years old at the time... and in Maria's arms was little Maddy, smiling up at the camera. The picture had been taken on Maddy's first birthday, just a little more than a year before Miguel's tragic death.

"_Dad... I still remember the last thing you told me in the hospital... just before... just before you died..." _thought Sanza, stroking his thumb over his father's face in the picture. _"Take care of mom and Maddy... that's what you said... and so far... well, I..."_

He had protected them, as well as he could... he'd tried to protect Maddy from Mumbo, and had taken the Red X suit so that he could protect his family should any villains ever attack like that again... but by taking the suit, he'd placed his family in even more danger. He thought that he may have failed to uphold his father's promise... but Maddy and Maria were still alive, and well, and now, Sanza had someone else to protect.

"_You'd have loved her if you'd have met her, dad... I know you would have..."_

Of course, Sanza was referring to Terra. Sure, Terra had done horrible things in the past, but... so had Miguel, who had committed several crimes in his youth, and even some as a young adult as part of his street gang. Sure, he'd never actually committed murder, but he'd witnessed it several times... and though he joined the gang mostly so that he could protect some of its younger members, in the course of doing that he'd knocked quite a few heads around.

"_It's because of you that I've learned not to judge people because of their past... it's because of you that I can love Terra despite everything she's done... it's because of you that I can see her as the wonderful person she truly is."_

Sanza placed the picture back on his desk and stood up from his bed, taking out the Red X costume from underneath and removing his clothes so that he could put on the suit.

"_I have to get my mind off of the guy that killed you... and the only way I can do that is to go over to Titans Tower and see Terra again."_

He put on the suit, leaving off the mask and gloves until he'd put on his regular clothes again. He then put the mask and gloves into his pockets and climbed down the fire escape... the whole time, his mind was still drifting back and forth between his father and Terra... between hatred and love.

"_But if I do see that bastard again, I swear... I swear I'll make him pay."_

O-O-O

_Miguel Salazar entered the kitchen of his family's apartment, putting on a brown leather jacket and walking over to his wife Maria, who was standing at the sink, preparing a bath for her two-year-old daughter Maddy. She cradled the child gently in her arms, who smiled and cooed up at her before noticing her father in the room and reaching out toward him with her tiny arms._

"_Daddy!" said young Maddalena, smiling happily as her father walked toward her. Miguel bent down and gave his daughter a tender kiss on the forehead, before looking up and giving his wife a kiss on the lips._

"_I have to go get some milk, we're just about out and I think the carton in the fridge expired last week..."_

"_That's fine, dear," said Maria, looking back at the sink and watching as the small plastic tub she'd placed inside filled up with water. "Miguel, do you think we're just about ready to let Maddy take baths in the big tub now?"_

"_Mmm... well, she's been getting pretty big lately, she barely fits in the baby tub anymore..." said Miguel, leaning down once more and smiling at Maddy. "Aren't you... you're a big girl now, yes you are, you're daddy's big girl!"_

_Maddy giggled and reached up with her right hand, touching Miguel on the tip of his nose. He smiled at her, then kissed Maria again before walking over to the door and opening it up._

"_Sanza," called Maria from the kitchen, peering into the living room, where her son was engrossed in one of his favorite television programs. "Don't you want to say 'bye' to daddy?"_

"_But mom... 'Power Rangers' is on..." whined seven-year-old Sanza, waving at his father with a half-dismissive gesture, his eyes still glued to the screen._

"_Oh, don't worry, I'll be right back," said Miguel, waving to Maria and Maddy one last time. "Love you..."_

"_Love you too, dear," said Maria, lowering her daughter into the baby tub. _

_And then, Miguel was gone._

O-O-O

Sanza walked into the front door of Titans Tower and saw the main room completely empty... he figured that there would be _someone _there, and immediately began wondering if they were out on a mission... but of course, if they were, they wouldn't have left the door unlocked.

"_Then again, they probably wouldn't have left it unlocked anyway, unless... one of those guys from Titans East forgot to lock it..."_

He stepped into the main room and began to look around, looking in the kitchen and in front of the television and seeing no one there...

"Hello...? Terra? Anyone?"

"Sanza, is that you?"

Finally, someone _did _show up to see Sanza... it was Robin, emerging from one of the nearby hallways with a quizzical look on his face.

"...where's everyone else? Where's Terra?" Sanza inquired, looking slightly distraught as he sauntered up to the Boy Wonder.

"Everyone else is training," replied Robin. "With the Brotherhood of Evil, Slade, and all of our worst enemies working together, we're spending all of our time until the big battle training. It's Titans East vs. Titans West... if you want, you can go into the simulator and pick a side."

"Oh... well, all right, I just..."

Robin could tell that Sanza wasn't his usual, casual self. Something was bothering him, he seemed... uptight, like there was something on his mind. Robin's first thought was that Slade had threatened him again... which wasn't surprising, considering the remarks that Sanza had made to him a few days earlier. But then again, he also knew that Sanza and Terra were an item... when they'd returned to the main room during the Titans' conversation the previous night, they were holding hands, smiling, and laughing... whatever they'd said or done on the roof must have been extremely enlightening.

"Sanza, are you okay...?"

"...no, Robin, I'm not. Can we talk?"

Sanza had originally come to the Tower to speak with Terra, but he didn't want to interrupt her training, as important as it was... he knew that she needed every minute of preparation she could get if she wanted to fight the Brotherhood of Evil. Her close call with the four H.I.V.E. members the previous night had made that exceptionally clear.

"Well... I was going to get over to the simulator myself... I was just checking out how close some of the other heroes that we've called are to getting here."

"...how close are they?"

"The first of them are supposed to arrive sometime tomorrow," said Robin, a smile on his face. "I've looked up some of their abilities, and... I think that once they show up, we'll really have a chance to take down the Brotherhood of Evil, no matter how many villains are helping them."

"I see..." Sanza was glad that the Titans would be getting extra help... after all, the more villains that were distracted away by fighting the Titans and their allies, the easier it would be for him to get his hands on Slade... and to keep Slade away from Terra.

But still, the teen's mind was elsewhere... not on Slade, or even on Terra, but on his father... and the fact that the man who'd killed him was now out roaming the streets somewhere, a free man. It was a fact that disturbed Sanza deeply, and Robin could still see it very clearly on his face.

"But... let's go talk first," said Robin, leading Sanza toward the elevator. "I know a good place."

O-O-O

That 'good place' was a room in the upper levels of the tower, a small lounge with an entirely glass wall across from the door and a couch on either side of the room. There were two small upholstered seats placed over by the window, but Robin and Sanza elected to sit on the floor next to the glass wall, which afforded them an excellent view of the bay out in the distance as the mid-day sun shined down on the water, giving its blue surface a shimmering glaze.

"So, Sanza..."

Robin looked over at the young man who at one point had been his most bitter rival... even moreso than Slade. Despite all the encounters that the two had had, all of their fights, all of their arguments, Robin still couldn't know for sure whether or not Sanza could be trusted. The two of them had two things in common... admiration for Starfire and hatred for Slade, though recently, Sanza had begun to finally get over the former, replacing his affection for Starfire with his devotion to Terra.

And even though Sanza had worked for Slade in the past, might _still _be working for him, their argument in the coliseum just part of an elaborate ruse... Robin could tell that Sanza would never willingly work for Slade. He might be a thief, he might be reckless, but he wasn't evil... but was he entirely good?

"_There is good, and there is evil... and then there's Sanza... you've taught me almost as much as any criminal I've ever met. But I still don't know if I can trust you..."_

"Robin, there's something on my mind that's completely unrelated to Slade, or this whole Brotherhood of Evil thing... you know how, when I first unmasked myself in front of you guys, that I told you how my father was murdered?"

"Yes... I remember that."

"The guy that did it, a man named Enricio Calderez... he just got out today. He got out on parole for snitching on some other gang members. _That's _why I've been so angry today."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sanza..." Of course, Robin knew full well the pain of losing a family member to crime. He'd lost three. "I don't want you to think that I don't care about what happened to your father, but... my parents were murdered too, along with my brother. It happened several years ago... so I know what it's like to have someone you care about taken from you."

Sanza looked over at Robin, and his eyes widened. Sure, he'd never seen Robin's parents around, but he'd always figured that they'd been killed in a car accident or something... the fact that they could've been murdered never crossed his mind, and almost instantly, Sanza's heart went out to his rival.

"Did they catch the guy that did it?"

"...no, but a few years later, I found the guy that did it," said Robin, his eyes narrowing as he remembered his fateful encounter with the gangster Tony Zucco. His voice began to swell up with anger. "I found him, and... I wanted to... I wanted to..."

"Kill him?"

"...yes."

"I don't blame you," said Sanza, his own voice becoming lined with bitterness and rage. "I'm angry enough about losing my father, but... if that fucker had killed my mom and sister too, I wouldn't stop until I'd killed him. What stopped you?"

"Batman," replied Robin. Sanza exhaled through his nose, getting more and more angry by the second.

"I wouldn't have stopped," continued Sanza. "Batman or no Batman, if the bastard who had killed my father had killed mom and Maddy too, I'd have ripped out his heart after breaking every bone in his body..." Sanza's fists began to clench, and his entire body began to tremble. "I don't care what anyone would do to me for it either, nobody does that to my _familia _and gets away with it, and if I ever see this guy who killed my father I swear I'll kill him where he stands!"

Robin immediately reached out and placed a hand on Sanza's shoulder. Sanza continued to breathe heavily, not looking at Robin, just keeping his hands interlocked in his lap and digging his fingernails into his hands until they started to bleed. He remained that way for several seconds, trying to mentally calm himself down, lest he ram his fist into the window right in front of his face... finally, he calmed himself enough that he stopped trembling, and was able to look at Robin again without an expression of pure hatred.

"You know if you do that..."

"I know," said Sanza, understanding full well the consequences of what essentially would be first-degree murder. "I just hope, for my sake and for yours, that I never meet up with him."

Robin didn't know what to say... it wasn't as if the Boy Wonder hadn't had his homicidal urges in the past... not just toward Tony Zucco, but Slade as well, whom he, the Titans, and Red X had actually tried to kill a few months earlier with a Xynothium bomb. But of course, he had his reasons... Slade was a danger to the city, and to the world... and Robin, lacking the maturity and convictions of his mentor Batman, could see no other way to permanently end Slade's reign of terror than to extinguish his life.

But Sanza's plans to kill his father's murderer were born out of pure revenge, and Robin knew he had a duty to try and discourage Sanza from carrying them out. Sanza could see that Robin was uncomfortable, and began trying to change the subject as well as he could.

"After my father died... for the next few months, you could barely talk to me," said Sanza, his anger turning into sadness as he recollected the period of time after his father's murder. "I was always holed up in my room... didn't care about school, or anything else... Maddy was two, so she took it better than I did... though of course, she missed dad terribly. I can't imagine the grief you must've gone through losing both of your parents, mine probably doesn't compare, but-"

"Whether you lose one parent or both," said Robin, "it's a terrible loss... I'm sorry you had to go through something like that."

Sanza smiled briefly, glad to see that despite all of their differences, Robin still had sympathy for him... it was just another thing the two of them had in common.

"Well, a few months after dad died, the circus came to town, and mom decided that the best way to get me and Maddy to cheer up was to take us down to see it. So she did, and it was okay... but I was still feeling depressed, I wasn't really enjoying myself at all. I sat through the elephants, and the clowns, and the human cannonball... nothing."

Then, Sanza smiled again, as one of the most cherished memories from his past began to come to light...

"Then, there was this family of trapeze artists that performed... the Flying Graysons, I think they were called."

Almost immediately, Robin's eyes perked up... but Sanza, engrossed in telling his story, didn't notice.

"They were _really _talented, but the most amazing part was that one of them was a kid _my age_. I couldn't believe it, I was so captivated by the fact that there was a kid just like me doing all these amazing stunts... flips, and tosses, and swings, and... well, you name it, and this kid did it."

As Sanza told the story of the amazing Flying Graysons and their youngest member, his eyes lit up more and more, as if he was a child again, telling the story of the first time he rode a bike, or about one of his birthdays... and Robin couldn't help but marvel at the irony of what Sanza was telling him.

"So after the show, I begged my mom to take me to meet the Flying Graysons in their trailer, I just wanted to meet the kid, see if he was really real, or if it was just some midget or something... so my mom took me back to meet them, and there they were, standing outside their trailer signing autographs... I was really nervous, I saw that it really was a kid and I thought he'd be mean to me or something, but... he was so friendly... he signed an autograph for me, and we talked, and talked, and it was like... I wanted this kid to be my best friend, he was the coolest person I'd ever met and I just... well, I knew that they were traveling all over, so it wasn't possible, but... I'd have given _anything _to be best friends with that trapeze kid, because for the first time since my dad died, I was truly happy."

Robin didn't know what to say... but as Sanza spoke, he remembered... remembered the excited young child that had come to visit him and his family after the show, and Robin too remembered wanting that child to be his friend... because traveling with his family, he never had the opportunity to make very many friends.

"That's... that's a nice story," said Robin, a warm, friendly smile on his face. "I'm glad you were eventually able to move on, I mean... I know it's impossible to really get over what happened, but..."

"Well, that kid really had a lot to do with it, I mean... seeing him up there, someone my age doing all of those amazing things, I thought to myself... 'anything's possible'. That's why I was able to move on, Robin. But... I guess the fact that I stole the Red X suit kind of erases some of that, huh?"

"...Sanza..."

It was getting harder and harder for Robin not to admit to Sanza that he was Dick Grayson, the child trapeze artist who had impressed and inspired the young, still-grieving child so much with his feats of acrobatic skill. Yes, Sanza was still potentially an enemy... and only a temporary ally. Yes, he might go back to being a thief, yes, Robin still didn't entirely trust him... but...

"Sanza, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell _anyone _else."

"...what?" Sanza was confused, wondering what Robin could possibly be able to tell him. _"Is this about the Brotherhood of Evil, or Slade, or...?"_

"Only Batman and the other Titans know what I'm about to tell you. I only just told Terra last week, and I was reluctant even to do that. Promise me, Sanza, that you won't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. _Promise._"

Immediately, Sanza realized what Robin was about to tell him. He gave a solemn nod, amazed that just a few days removed from his latest attacks against the team, that the leader of the Titans would trust him with a secret that only a few of his closest friends knew.

"_Doesn't he know how this information could be used against him? Not like I ever would, but..."_

Slowly, Robin removed the mask from his face, and Sanza looked into the eyes of someone whom he thought he would never see again.

"Oh my god, you're..."

"Dick Grayson," said Robin, placing his mask in front of him and looking into Sanza's eyes. "I'm the kid you talked to ten years ago."

Sanza just stared at Robin for a few moments, blinking, and then rubbing his eyes. He couldn't believe it, but in retrospect, it should've been so obvious... after all, only someone as athletic as a trapeze artists could've done some of those moves that he'd seen Robin do. He stared for a few more seconds, then began to laugh... first a chuckle, and then a guffaw... and then loud enough that he had to put his hand up to his lips to stifle any more laughter. It didn't help, and soon, Sanza was convulsing with hysterics, nearly falling onto his back, he was laughing so hard.

"What's... so funny?" asked Robin, much more immune to the irony of the situation than Sanza apparently was.

"You... you were my idol... I dreamed about being best friends with you, but... oh man... oh... oh man... this is... hahahaha... hahahahaha!!! This is... fucking hilarious... haha..."

For Sanza to find out that the person he'd come to blows with so many times, the person who held a worldview almost the polar opposite of his, was actually his childhood hero was just too much to bear.

"_This changes nothing..." _thought Sanza, finally managing to calm himself down. He wiped the tears of laughter from his face and shook his head, breathing quickly in an effort to fight off any hiccups that might be trying to make their appearance. _"So what if I idolized him as a kid? As far as I'm concerned, we're only allies until Slade goes down... then I'm going back to doing what I want to do."_

But despite all of that, Sanza knew that this in fact did add an entirely new dimension to the contentious relationship between Robin and himself. He wouldn't admit it, but he was grateful to Robin for helping him through one of his darkest periods... though of course, completely obliviously.

"Are you done?" asked Robin, putting the mask back on his face. "Remember, you can't-"

"I won't," replied Sanza, reaching over and placing a hand on Robin's shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. Your secret's safe with me."

And just as Robin began to smile in response to Sanza's comment, the door to the room slid open, and Terra entered the room. She was dressed in a gray tanktop that was, at the moment, covered in sweat, and had a pair of tight-fitting black shorts on that cut off just below her knees. It was obvious from the sweat still dripping down her face and the towel draped around her neck that she'd just returned from a very intense training session. When she saw Sanza sitting by the window, she immediately ran over to him, wrapping her arms around him just as he was able to stand up.

"Sanza...!! I saw from the Tower's surveillance cameras that you came in here..."

"Oh, yeah..." Sanza smiled, wrapping his own arms around Terra and returning her embrace. Though she was covered in sweat, she smelled like a refreshing spring breeze... whatever deodorant she'd put on before her training session seemed to be holding up. "I guess you've been busy..."

"Oh, tell me about it," she replied, parting from Sanza and placing her hands on her hips. "We just got done having a battle royale against the members of Titans East... I'll tell ya, they're pretty tough... you oughta come join us sometime!"

"Well... maybe later," said Sanza, just as Robin clapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"I'll leave you two alone..." he said, smiling at both Sanza and Terra as he walked past them toward the door. Just before he left, Terra turned to him.

"Hey, um... can Sanza and I go out for a bite to eat?" asked Terra, causing Sanza to blush, though the smile remained on his face. "The others are gonna have supper here... I promise we'll be back in time for the evening training session."

"Oh... sure, go ahead," replied Robin, waving to them as he left the room. _"Well, that was certainly an enlightening conversation... I can't believe I forgot about meeting Sanza ten years ago... he was so different back then, but... then again, so was I."_

The loss of a parent, or in Robin's case, an entire family, had affected the two youths more than even they could ever possibly know, sending their lives off in directions that they never would've gone otherwise. Robin could only imagine how much different Sanza might have turned out if he, like Robin, had lost his entire family.

"_Right now, his mom and his sister are probably the only things keeping him from becoming entirely evil... them and Terra, anyway... I just hope for his sake that he can protect them... and I'll do my best to help protect them too. I promise, Sanza."_

O-O-O

_Miguel emerged from the food market carrying a plastic grocery bag with two half-gallon jugs of milk inside. His family's apartment was just four blocks away, but he barely got a quarter of the way there before someone noticed him walking down the sidewalk. He, along with five other men, crossed the street toward Miguel, who didn't notice them until they were walking alongside him. One of the men, a heavyset, bearded hoodlum wearing a blue bandana on his head, pushed Miguel toward a nearby alley._

"_Yo, you remember me, vato?"_

_Miguel turned toward the crowd of men, recognizing only one of them... the man that had pushed him. Immediately, Miguel dropped his grocery bag and hand his hands out in a conciliatory gesture._

"_Hey, I don't want any trouble... you know I haven't rolled with the West Side Barrios in nearly a decade, so-"_

"_Shit, don't give me that, once you a Barrio you a Barrio for life, man!" _

"_Enricio, you gotta cap this guy, you gotta send the Barrios a message!" said one of the younger gangsters in the group, a short, skinny boy who couldn't have been much older then sixteen. "Plug him right in the stomach, man!"_

_Miguel, knowing that the situation had the potential to get very ugly, did a quick assessment of his surroundings. He'd been pushed into a small alleyway with brick walls on three sides of him, and in front of him were six very vicious-looking gangsters, several of whom seemed to be armed._

"_I can't let these people kill me... I have a wife and two young children..." Miguel's mind began to race back and forth, and he wondered whether he should go for one of the men's guns, or continue trying to talk out the situation... but he knew the drill. Once you'd built up a reputation with a street gang, rival gangs were rarely willing to forget your past, even if you'd given up the life for good._

"_Hey, you gonna say somethin' or what?" shouted another one of the gangsters, taking out his gun and pointing it at Miguel's head. Immediately, Calderez gestured for him to holster his weapon._

"_Don't you shoot him!" shouted Calderez, and for a moment, Miguel began to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that the situation might end peacefully after all. That relief would be short-lived. The second the lower-ranking thug put his gun away, Calderez withdrew his own weapon and pointed it at Miguel's chest. "I'm gonna kill this Barrio pendejo myself."_

O-O-O

Terra and Sanza's first dinner together as a couple wasn't exactly the fanciest outing in the world... they went to a local fast-food restaurant, which was about the only thing Sanza could afford at the moment. Terra had been given money to spend, but Sanza insisted on paying for the meal himself. It was all for the best, Terra didn't mind fast food, and the table she'd picked out near the window gave the young couple a fairly good view of a nearby park.

The two talked for nearly half an hour, every word bringing them closer and closer. They had a lot in common, and not just the fact that both had been pursued by Slade... they liked a lot of the same music, had similar senses of humor, and even had the same favorite television show. But those were just superficial similarities... after all, Terra and Beast Boy had a lot in common as well. And eventually, that's where the conversation drifted.

"So... how's Beast Boy taking the fact that we're a couple now? I mean, you did tell him, right?"

"Yeah, I did," said Terra. She'd told him that morning before breakfast, but he'd already figured it out when he'd seen the two holding hands as they entered the main room of the Tower. "He took it really well, actually... I mean, we're still best friends, and he knows that you really care about me, so..."

Beast Boy had spent a good portion of last night thinking about Terra and Sanza as a couple. Somehow, he knew that it was coming, from the moment Sanza had helped to rescue Terra from Sedaris' clutches... and while it _was _somewhat of a sad occurrence to him, because he did still love Terra, he also had a great deal of hope that he could find a way to make Raven like him the same way that Terra did. That was one of the reasons that he was ultimately all right with Terra and Sanza being together.

The other reason, of course, was that he wanted Terra to be happy... and when she was with Sanza, Terra was happier than Beast Boy had ever seen her be with him. When Terra was with Sanza, she didn't feel nearly as guilty about her troubled past... while Beast Boy would always remind Terra of her betrayal, no matter what he did to try and reassure her.

"Sanza, when I'm with you, I... I just feel good about myself... all the mistakes I made, all the people I hurt... I don't feel so guilty about them when I'm with you."

She reached over and placed her hand on top of Sanza's, who took it in his own and gently caressed the top of her hand with several of his fingers. He looked up at her and smiled, and she smiled back, her blue eyes lighting up with a warmth that made Sanza want to smile even more.

"It's not Beast Boy's fault that I felt bad when I was with him, but..."

"It's okay, Terra... if you still have feelings for him-"

"I do, Sanza, but... I... I really... I mean, I-"

Never in her entire life had Terra told anyone that she loved them, and it was so hard for her to form those words, knowing full well the gravity of what they meant. Of course she loved Sanza, loved him with all of her being and trusted him to be her protector, but... to actually express that feeling took a lot more than three simple words, and to say them now would just seem... cliché.

"I know what you mean, Terra."

Sanza leaned in and kissed Terra on the lips... it was a single kiss, and unlike the kisses of the night before, it only lasted a few seconds... but it still said everything that Sanza needed to say, and it made Terra even happier to know that Sanza felt exactly the way that she did.

"Look..." said Sanza softly as he parted from Terra, leaning back into the hard plastic backing of his chair and continuing to look into Terra's eyes. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you... I'll protect you from Slade."

"Sanza... I don't expect you to protect me... and I don't want you to think that you have to, okay? Slade is dangerous... and scary, and evil, but... I'm going to be fine, and no matter what happens..."

"I won't let anything happen."

The smile slowly disappeared from Terra's face... as much as she wanted Sanza to be her protector, she also didn't want him to worry... and she didn't want him to feel hurt if something did happen to her.

"Then... I'll protect you too, Sanza, okay?" 

Sanza said nothing, but did give a small nod... then returned to finishing the rest of his French fries, which by now had gotten soggy and cold. After eating his last fry, he took a sip of his soda... which had gotten watery because all the ice had melted. The look on his face as he pulled back from his straw was one of contorted disgust, and Terra couldn't help but giggle, setting her own watered-down soda aside and getting up from her chair.

"They give free refills here, you know..." Terra commented. "You want me to get you another one too?"

"Sure," said Sanza, leaning back in his chair and smiling up at Terra. "I mean, we're gonna be here for a while, we might as well drink all the soda we can, right?"

Terra giggled, nodding and picking up both cups before taking them over to the soda dispenser to refill them. She had a feeling that she and Sanza would be staying at the restaurant for a lot longer than the rest of the team expected them too... but she didn't care. She'd had all the training she could stand for one day, and would take a nice evening talking with Sanza over a long session of training any day.

Besides, as long as Sanza was there to protect her, she didn't need to train quite so hard... and with her by his side, neither did he.

O-O-O

The Titans Tower lounge had become quite crowded after Robin, Terra, and Sanza's departure... and after supper, many of the Titans, both East and West, had found it to be the perfect place to crash. Cyborg and Bumblebee sat together on one couch, while on the other, Beast Boy, Raven, and Aqualad parked themselves, scrunched up a bit too close together for Raven's comfort, as she was right in the middle of the two talkative males. On the chairs near the window wall sat Speedy and Mas y Menos, with the short Mexican duo both occupying the same chair.

"So Bumblebee, how have things been lately with leading Titans East? You gotta tell me all the juicy details..."

"I tried to tell you at supper," replied Bumblebee, "but you were too busy arguing with Beast Boy about whether to serve tofu or steak."

Cyborg blinked several times before shrugging his shoulders and smiling at Bumblebee, his head resting on his hands.

"Okay, so tell me now! I'm totally listening."

As Bumblebee once again began to regale to Cyborg her experiences with the Titans East, Beast Boy and Aqualad were arguing about that day's earlier training battle, much to Raven's dismay.

"You so totally could not outswim me, once I hit the water I was zoomin'!"

"No way, Beast Boy, you were struggling just to keep going forward the way that water was going... that blonde girl swims faster than you!"

"Who, Terra? Pssssh, no way, her specialty is earth... I mean, she's good, but in the water she's like a fish out of water!"

"That doesn't make sense!" Aqualad shouted back.

"What doesn't make sense?"

"What you just said! It's redundant!"

"_You're _redundant!" Beast Boy responded, leaning across Raven in order to point his finger in Aqualad's face. By now, the half-demoness was becoming more and more frustrated with the two arguing heroes, who barely even seemed to notice that she was sitting right between them, trying to keep her thoughts straight.

"That's not even an insult!"

"Is too! Redundant is like, when you're not very smart, so-"

"That's _retarded_!" corrected Aqualad.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"..._you're _retarded!"

Without saying a word, Raven lifted up both of her index fingers, which began to glow. Black energy seals appeared over the mouths of both Beast Boy and Aqualad, making them both as silent as she was being. As they emitted muffled shouts and tried to pry off the seals, Speedy chuckled to himself and called over to Raven.

"Hey Raven, can you tell me what Robin's been up to lately?"

"...what makes you think I know what he's been up to?" responded Raven, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh, I just figured you'd know, I mean... you _are _his girlfriend, right?"

Raven's eyes widened, and a prominent blush appeared on her face. She leaned back into the couch, while Beast Boy, his speech still impeded by Raven's seal, narrowed his eyes at Speedy and made a loud, muffled yell of protest. At this point, Mas y Menos screamed out something in Spanish and both leapt into Raven's lap at once, cuddling up to her warmly.

"Hey, I thought you two had a crush on Starfire, not me," said Raven, rolling her eyes and pushing the two twins from her lap in an undignified manner.

"_Ella es tan hermosa..." _sighed Mas dreamily, prompting his brother to nod in agreement.

"_Si, iguale cuando ella esta enojada, ella es hermoso..." _said Menos, leaning his head back and letting out an even louder sigh.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy, who had been able to remove Raven's seal by transforming several times, leaned in close to Raven and decided to make his move... at least now that the subject had been brought up.

"Speaking of girlfriend... did you hear about Sanza and Terra?"

"Yes, Beast Boy, I did," replied Raven, leaning away from Beast Boy and looking over at him annoyedly. "I saw the two of you talking this morning... I'm sorry."

"Well, um... I was wondering, maybe if we're not training or anything tomorrow, if... um..." Beast Boy was incredibly nervous, knowing with almost 100 certainty that he'd be rejected. But he had to try, even if he knew the answer would be no... had to try to keep the fact that he had feelings for Raven fresh within her mind. "You and me could maybe go out... or something?"

Raven looked at Beast Boy quizzically for a moment, rather surprised by his sudden offer of a date, especially considering how annoyed she'd been with him lately. As much as she did like Beast Boy, it was strictly on a friend basis, and if anything, she thought of him more as an annoying little brother than as a potential romantic interest, despite the fact that she _did _care for him on at least some emotional level.

"I don't consider it polite to pick up guys on the rebound," said Raven, putting her rejection in the best way that she could. She didn't want to give him an outright 'no', because it just seemed cruel... but certainly didn't want to start a relationship with him.

"Aw... c'mon, I don't mind, it's okay... Terra didn't really 'break up' with me, she just-"

_Now _Raven wanted to give Beast Boy an outright 'no', but before she could, the door to the room slid open, and in came Robin and Starfire, who looked ready to begin the evening's training session.

"Well, shall we get started?" said Robin, looking around at the members of both teams.

"Yes, I would much like to begin the evening session of training now... though Terra and Sanza have not yet returned from their romantic excursion."

It didn't take much to get the members of Titans West and East off of the couches and into the training simulator... despite the fact that they were all still somewhat exhausted from the training earlier that day, they all knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Brotherhood of Evil made its next attack.

O-O-O

The sun was setting when Terra and Sanza finally finished their conversation and headed back to Titans Tower. They walked beside one another on the sidewalk, holding each other's hand and admiring the beautiful red and purple sky.

"I've seen sunsets from almost every continent in the world," said Terra, leaning her head against Sanza's shoulder.

"...lemme guess, you've never been to Antarctica?"

"Australia, actually," replied Terra. "I'm... kind of afraid of dingoes."

Not knowing whether Terra was joking or being serious, Sanza burst out into laughter, and Terra began laughing right along with him... every time she told the joke to Beast Boy, he would transform into a dingo to humor her. The two continued to walk, and though Sanza didn't realize it, he'd forgotten all about his father's killer... being with Terra had made him so happy that all of the anger had melted away from his mind.

As the two continued to talk and laugh, they could hear loud yelling coming from an alley across the street. Upon closer inspection, Sanza could see that there was a man with a gun threatening an old lady and grabbing at her purse.

"That lady's getting robbed, I have to stop it..." said Sanza, starting across the street only to have Terra hold him back.

"Sanza, wait!" shouted Terra, grabbing him by the wrist. "That guy has a gun, let me handle it... I can stop him from here."

But then, the man smashed the gun into the side of the elderly woman's head, knocking her down. Immediately, Sanza broke away from Terra and started across the street.

"Hey, you!" shouted Sanza, accosting the mugger and drawing his attention. The mugger turned and locked eyes with Sanza, and almost immediately, Sanza recognized the man's face.

The scars, the deep, brown eyes, the beard... there was no mistaking it. The mugger was Enricio Calderez, the man who had murdered Sanza's father. Unable to contain his rage, which had blinded Sanza to the point that he no longer cared about the gun in the man's hand, Sanza charged forward, clearing the street in a matter of seconds and striking Calderez across the face with a brutal right hook before the man even had the chance to respond.

"FUCKING MURDERER!!!" screamed Sanza, preparing to strike Calderez again.

"Why you... little... I'll kill you!"

The gun was leveled at Sanza's head, but in a split-second, Sanza had grabbed it by the barrel and had ripped it away from Calderez before he could fire, tossing it to the ground before raining a series of blows down on the bearded gang member. The punches were buffeted slightly by Calderez' beard, but they still hit their mark, and soon, the murderer had a bloody nose. He stumbled back, just before Sanza landed a kick to his gut that caused him to double over.

"Sanza, stop it!" shouted Terra, who was too busy making sure the old woman was all right to do anything about Sanza's continued assault. Calderez took a desperate swing at Sanza, who merely ducked and struck the man with a brutal swinging kick to the side of his face.

"I'm gonna make you pay... I swear... I'm gonna kill you right now!!!"

The kick had knocked Calderez off-balance, and he was stumbling backward into the alley... one stiff blow would knock him over, and that's exactly what he got, as Sanza headbutted him in the forehead, bringing him to the ground on his back.

"There... how do you like that...?" shouted Sanza, staring straight down into the eyes of the man who'd murdered his father.

"Go to hell!" replied Calderez, kicking up at Sanza from the ground, only to have the teen leap out of the way and respond with a vicious kick of his own, a kick that struck Calderez in the ankle with enough force to cause a painful hairline fracture. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!"

"I'm not through with you yet..." said Sanza, his eyes narrowed, his voice turning low and vicious, his every word dripping with hate. "Look at me, you son of a bitch... recognize anything?"

Now trembling with fear and groaning in pain, Calderez struggled to look up at the boy who'd somehow managed to best him in just a matter of seconds... even with a gun, the thug had been no matter for this boy who seemed so familiar... and yet, Calderez couldn't quite place him, even though his face and Miguel's looked so similar...

"No? Well, let me _tell _you who I am."

O-O-O

_Now staring down the barrel of Calderez's gun, Miguel knew that he might only have a few seconds to live... should he spend them begging? Pleading? Praying? Or just trying to fight back...?_

"_You don't want to do this," said Miguel calmly, not showing even the smallest bit of fear, though his heart was now beating a mile a minute. "Killing me won't solve anything."_

"_Don't give me that shit, you know what this is about, this is about pride, pendejo!" shouted Calderez, lowering his gun back down to Miguel's chest before raising it up once more, right between his eyes. "Now I just need to figure out where to shoot you..."_

_Miguel had had enough. There was obviously no reasoning with these thugs... he had to go down fighting. He lunged forward, and then..._

_He never heard the bang, but he could feel something barreling into his chest... and then exiting through his back. He fell backwards, landing on the concrete and going unconscious almost immediately._

_Before he blacked out, he barely had time to think of his precious wife Maria..._

O-O-O

Sanza kicked Calderez several times, then stomped hard on his chest and stomach, forcing the man's wind out in one loud, terrified gasp. He then calmly walked over to the sidewalk and picked up Calderez's gun from the ground, walking back over and pointing it squarely at the murderer's head.

"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

By now, Terra was watching in horrified silence and disbelief. She wanted to knock out Sanza with a rock, but with that gun in his hands, knocking him out would just put him in danger of being shot by Calderez... anything she could do to knock both of them out might hurt Sanza a lot more than she would have liked.

"Sanza... please..." said Terra quietly, almost in a whisper. Sanza, consumed by his rage, could barely hear her.

"I SAID, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"

"You're... a punk..." gasped Calderez, spitting out a small amount of blood as he continued to look up at Sanza.

"I'm Sanza Salazar... son of Miguel Salazar... you remember him? The man you killed, just to make a fucking statement?"

Calderez's eyes went wide. _That _was where he'd seen Sanza's face before...

"No... it can't be..."

"Now, _I'm _going to make a statement, by putting a bullet right between your eyes! You hear me? I'm not gonna shoot you in the chest like you shot my dad... I'm the better man, you're not going to suffer, you're just gonna die..."

O-O-O

_The police officer had arrived at Maria's door just fifteen minutes later with the horrible news, just as Maria was pulling Maddy out of the tub. The officer had tried to shield Sanza from hearing the news, but he'd heard it anyway, and sobbing, he demanded his mother to let him go with her to visit Miguel in the hospital._

_When they arrived, Miguel had regained consciousness... but he'd bled out heavily, and his heart was irreparably damaged. Even if an emergency transplant and transfusion could be arranged, the surgery would come far too late... Miguel had just minutes to live._

_He'd asked to see Maria first, said his goodbyes to her in less than two minutes... he wished so much to have more time, but knew that he could die at any moment, and that he had to speak to his son one last time... Sanza entered the room sobbing, saying that he was sorry over and over and over again for not saying goodbye to his dad before he'd walked out the door._

"_Sanza... my son, come here..."_

_Sanza shook his head, drawing his arms in close to his body, overcome with guilt._

"_Daddy... I... I..."_

_With all the strength he had left, Miguel reached out from the hospital bed and placed his hand on his son's face, gently brushing away whatever tears he could. He smiled warmly, trying to beckon Sanza closer... and finally, Sanza did step forward, close enough for his father to wrap him up in one last hug._

"_Sanza... I love you so much... my son... you're my pride and joy... you know that...?"_

_Without a word, Sanza nodded, sobbing too hard even to speak. Miguel was rapidly slipping away, and his hold on Sanza quickly loosened... he pulled back and leaned into his hospital bed, still looking into Sanza's eyes as he fought to stay alive._

"_You... have to promise me..." Miguel said weakly, as the beeping of the heart monitor hooked up to his chest began to slow down. "Promise me you'll... be the man of the house... that you'll take care of your mother... and your sister... because I love them too, so much..."_

"_Daddy... I... I... I promise..." Sanza gasped, nodding slowly and looking into his father's eyes as tears raced down his cheeks. "I promise I'll protect them!"_

"_Good boy..." Miguel said, his eyes beginning to close. "I love you, son... don't ever forget that I love you..."_

_And then, it was over. A loud, singular beep signaling that Miguel Salazar's heart had stopped. He died, leaving behind a wife, a daughter, and a son who now had a new purpose... it was now up to Sanza to keep his mother and his sister safe._

O-O-O

"HOW COULD YOU TAKE HIM FROM ME?!" Sanza screamed, tears rapidly streaking down his face. "How could you take him from my mom, she loved him with all of her heart, he saved her life! How could you take him from my sister... she was just two years old, she never even got to know him!"

"Sanza... Sanza please... please stop!"

Terra's protests were getting louder and louder, but still, Sanza did not hear them. He pressed the gun against Calderez's forehead, trembling with rage as he placed his finger on the trigger.

"_Dad... this is for you... I'm going to make sure this bastard never hurts anyone again!!!"_

"SANZA, STOP IT!"

Terra screamed at the top of her lungs, and Sanza could no longer ignore her pleas. He turned to her, and could see in her eyes the most terrified expression he'd ever seen... even moreso then when Sedaris had nearly killed her, even moreso then when she'd awoken from her dream about Slade.

"Sanza... this... this isn't you...!!!"

Terra's eyes were wide, and tears were now pouring down her cheeks... and it was then that Sanza began to realize the terrible mistake he'd almost made. He looked back at Calderez, beaten and bloodied on the ground... then looked down at the gun in his hand, his finger still on the trigger...

"But... Terra... he... he killed my father...!"

"Sanza, if you kill him... you'll be as bad as he is..."

"But... Terra, I... I..."

"Sanza... you can't do this... you can't..."

Sanza fell to his knees, staring down at the ground and sobbing violently... his stomach began to churn, and for a moment, he felt as if he would throw up. He looked down at the gun once more, then tossed it away, back toward the sidewalk, and put his head in his hands.

Terra quickly ran over, falling upon Sanza and wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could. Every time he would tremble, she tightened her grip even more, and every time he would try to say something, she softly shushed him, stroking her soft hands through his hair and telling him that it would be all right.

Sanza Salazar had almost become a murderer... and not like he had done with Sorel and Ruell, whose deaths had been mostly from their own actions and not just Sanza killing them out of anger... but an actual murderer, killing in cold blood for the sole purpose of revenge.

"Terra..." sobbed Sanza, continuing to speak even after she tried to silence him, "you... you saved me... you saved me from doing something... something horrible..."

"No, Sanza... you... you chose not to kill him, you... you saved yourself..." Terra whispered, still running her right hand through Sanza's hair, using her left arm to hold him tightly to her body. As he continued to sob, the beaten thug nearby began to laugh... he coughed up a large clump of blood and let out a serious of loud, boisterous guffaws, mocking Sanza as he cried in Terra's arms.

"You're an even bigger pussy than your dad was..." laughed Calderez, beginning to stand up. "You don't have the _cajones _to kill me, you little-"

"Shut the hell up!" shouted Terra, her eyes glowing brightly as she levitated a rock from the ground and slammed it into the side of Calderez's skull, instantly knocking him unconscious. She then wrapped both of her arms around Sanza's back, letting him wipe his tears on her shoulder while continuously reassuring him that everything would be all right.

"_Terra..." _thought Sanza, still stunned into speechlessness as he realized how close he'd been to maliciously taking a human life. _"All this time I thought I'd end up being the one that saved you, but... in the end... you were the one that saved me..."_

When the police and ambulances showed up to take Calderez and his elderly victim away, Sanza and Terra were still tightly wrapped in each other's arms... not looking up, completely lost in the other's embrace.

O-O-O

That night, Madame Rouge went looking for Slade. She found him in a secluded area of the Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters, working on what appeared to be a mass of circuitry installed into the armor over his left wrist.

"The Titans have called in reinforcements, just as the Brain planned..." said Rouge to Slade, who didn't even bother to lift his head up from his work. "The Brain is planning a strike to stop these new heroes before they even reach Titans Tower..."

"Good," said Slade quietly, using a blowtorch to weld together some of the circuitry in his arm. He still did not look up at Rouge, who was beginning to get annoyed at the fact that her supposed ally was ignoring her.

"What is that you are working on?"

"It's part of a failsafe system that I designed for a certain operation about a year back... unfortunately, between the stress of my apprentice's betrayal and my control of the city completely slipping away, I forgot all about it..."

"I see," replied Madame Rouge, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, unconcerned with whatever gadgetry her fellow villain was attempting to fix. "I just wanted to tell you about tomorrow night's plans, because I think you'll know what will likely happen if we try and attack the new heroes."

Slade did not respond, knowing exactly what would happen, and allowing Rouge to state to him what both of them already knew.

"The Titans will come to their new friend's aid, and our plans will be ruined."

Slade finally looked up from the table, turning toward Madame Rouge and looking right into her eyes, his voice as cold and as calculating as ever.

"I already have something planned for the Teen Titans... they won't be interfering with your plans, because I already have something in mind to keep their attention focused squarely elsewhere."

Slade extended his left arm toward Madame Rouge, revealing a large red button that he had installed in the middle of his circuitry panel.

"And that device will... distract the Titans how?"

"Don't worry about it," Slade said to her, returning to his work and adjusting the position of one final screw before closing the panel in his wrist armor and exiting the room past the black-haired Brotherhood member. "Once I activate this fail-safe, you will not have to worry about the Teen Titans, ever again."

O-O-O

Nuzzled up in her bed, Terra lay fast asleep, her dreams all focusing on Sanza, and the events of the day... she'd seen Sanza at his very worst, but had been able to stop him before he'd done the unthinkable.

She couldn't help but believe that had Sanza been there when she'd been thinking of betraying the Titans, he too would have been able to convince her to rethink her plans.

Beneath the skin of her left arm, a tiny computer chip attached to one of her nerves suddenly blinked back to life, after lying dormant for nearly eleven months. The red light that began flashing on and off was so infinitesimally small that neither she, nor Sanza, nor any of the other Titans would even be able to tell that it was there.

O-O-O

Uh oh, what does Slade have up his sleeve now? And what does Terra have in her arm? And will the new heroes that the Titans have summoned be able to avoid falling into the Brotherhood of Evil's trap? You'll soon find out...


	9. Unwilling Betrayal

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

A silver-skinned teenager stood on the roof of a tall warehouse and looked out over Jump City, its beautiful skyline glistening in the evening sunset. She put her hands on her hips and smiled, completely unaware of the danger she was in.

"I think I'm going to like fighting evil in this place," said the girl, her accent sounding something like that of an Australian, though she was in fact from nearby New Zealand. "Now, where's Titans Tower...?"

The girl was Argent, and she'd been contacted recently by her friends in Titans East, who'd asked her to respond to a situation involving a large number of villains and an organization known as the Brotherhood of Evil. Not one to pass up a chance to help out her friends while saving the world, she made her way to Jump City as quickly as possible... completely unaware that as soon as she set foot in the city, she'd become a target.

She began hopping from rooftop to rooftop, and was finally able to spot the tall, T-shaped Tower in the middle of the bay. She smiled to herself and began racing toward it, using her ruby red energy beams to form bridges across the buildings so that she wouldn't have to make so many jumps. When she reached the end of the row of buildings, she shrugged her shoulders and leapt off of the final one, preparing to take flight... only to have two multi-colored ribbons suddenly loop around her wrists and pull her down toward the alley below.

"What the... what is this?!" shouted Argent, struggling furiously against the ribbons wrapped around both of her wrists as someone continued to pull her down. She looked below her and could see a blue-skinned man in a tophat and tuxedo holding both ribbons... and standing with him was a blonde girl and a freakish half-man, half-spider hybrid. "Hey...!!!"

She formed an energy sword in her right hand and tossed it toward the ground at the girl and the spider, who simply dodged, chuckling to themselves as their new captive was finally pulled down into the alley. As soon as her feet touched the ground, more ribbons wrapped around her, pinning her arms to her sides and binding her legs as well.

"So sorry, but you know we can't have you helping out the Teen Titans..." said Mumbo, laughing tauntingly at Argent as she struggled in her bonds. She squirmed and thrashed, but this only caused her to lose her balance and fall on her face at Mumbo's feet. "We'll be taking you back to the Brotherhood of Evil very shortly..."

"That's right, little girl..." said Kitten, walking over to Argent and cruelly kicking her in the side. She knelt down beside the captive superheroine and brushed her hand through Argent's hair, shaking her head and tsking to herself as she did so. "Black and red? Ugggh, your hair is so ugly... not like mine. Beautiful, blonde, and-"

"Shut up, you bloody brat!" screamed Argent, squirming back to her feet and hopping up and down in front of Kitten. "As soon as I get free, I'm gonna-"

A puff of smoke appeared in front of Argent's mouth, and to her horror, the silver-skinned heroine realized that her lips had been replaced with a zipper... which was currently in the 'closed' position. She let out a loud, muffled scream before being pushed to the ground by Kitten, who only had to give Argent a gentle poke to knock her back down to the ground.

"Thanks for shutting her up for me," said Kitten, smiling at Mumbo, whose magic wand was still glowing after transforming Argent's mouth.

"I don't normally take requests, kid, but in your case, I decided to make an exception," replied Mumbo, who then burst into a loud fit of laughter as Argent continued to squirm on the ground. She looked up at her three captors, trying not to show even a tiny amount of fear... but unfortunately, she was having quite a bit of trouble concealing her growing fright.

"_They captured me as soon as I got into the city...!" _thought Argent, trying to activate her powers beneath the layers of tight ribbons encircling her body. _"If they were able to catch me this quickly... I don't know if the Titans stand a chance!"_

O-O-O

Across the city, the two teams of Titans East and Titans West were gathered in the main room of the Tower. Sanza was with them, in his Red X suit and mask and ready to fight... just a day removed from the horrific incident of the previous day, in which he'd almost shot dead Enricio Calderez, the man who'd killed his father, Sanza was trying to forget what had happened... and busting up a few bad guys would certainly help him to do that.

Seated next to him on the couch was Terra... and Beast Boy was next to her. He'd been trying to keep his mind on what Robin had been telling him, but at the moment, even an impending war for control of Jump City was just about the furthest thing from Beast Boy's mind. He was still thinking about the Doom Patrol, who at this very moment were being held as hostages in the Brotherhood of Evil's base of operations, wherever that was. They'd been captives now for three days, and if Beast Boy knew the Brotherhood, and he did, it was likely that his former companions weren't being treated well.

But he was also thinking about Terra... and the fact that she was now together with Sanza, which meant that Beast Boy would have to focus all of his romantic efforts on Raven... the fact that maybe he didn't have to have a girlfriend at all never really crossed his mind.

"Right now, the first wave of new heroes is probably just now arriving in the city," said Robin, pointing at a large, computer-generated map of Jump City that was being displayed on the main room's television monitor. "We haven't been contacted by any of the new heroes yet, but we're bound to receive word from them soon."

Standing on the other side of the screen was Bumblebee. As leader of Titans East, she would be directing the coalition of superheroes alongside Robin... and would be leading her own team in any side missions that may arise.

"The new heroes are gonna need someone to meet them as soon as they reach the city," said Bumblebee. "A welcome wagon of sorts... Titans East will be that welcome wagon."

"So... we're gonna be going out into the city and looking for the heroes as they come in?" asked Speedy, seated next to Aqualad on the small couch closest to the screen. "I dunno... I'd much rather go after some of these villains."

"Titans West is gonna be staying at the Tower and responding to any distress calls that we or any of the new heroes send out," said Bumblebee. She gestured to Robin, who nodded his head in agreement.

"Since you're more familiar with these newcomers than we are, it's probably best that you go out to meet them and escort them to the Tower," said Robin. "If any of you get attacked, just call in and we'll come running."

"Got it," said Aqualad. Nearby, Mas y Menos eagerly signaled their agreement with the plan... but Speedy was still unsure.

"All right, we'll go out and look for the heroes... I guess whatever action there is, it's gonna be later anyway," said Speedy.

"Hey, Robin-looking dude..." said Red X from across the room, waving at the masked archer until he'd gotten Speedy's full attention. "I wanna kick butt just as much as you do... and from what I've seen, there's gonna be plenty of butt to go around."

"Of course there will be for _you_, you're a free agent, you're not taking orders from anybody!" replied Speedy, clearly frustrated with the fact that while he had to comply with whatever plans Bumblebee or Robin laid out, Red X's allegiance to neither team gave him the option of doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. "I assume you're gonna be staying here at the Tower too?"

"Yeah, but it might get kinda boring here waiting for you guys to get into trouble... the only way we get to actually go out and fight is if we're called, so..."

"Red X is right," said Raven, trying to calm Speedy down as best as she could... the last thing that either team needed right now was tension, especially on an important mission such as this. "The optimal outcome is that neither team has to fight anyone until we're all together and back here safe in Titans Tower. Your mission is to go retrieve the heroes and get back here as soon as possible."

"Yeah, Speedy... the way _you're _acting, it sounds like you _want _us to run into trouble," remarked Bumblebee. Speedy simply crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked away indignantly, not saying a word... he knew Bumblebee and Raven were right, but he was still itching to get into _some _kind of battle... all of this difficult training would mean nothing unless he got to use it against a powerful villain. "As for the rest of you, we're moving out right now. Titans East, go!"

Speedy, Aqualad, and Mas y Menos got up from their seats and headed for the door. They were followed by their leader Bumblebee, but before she could get away from the seating area, a cold, metallic hand touched her on the arm. She turned back and looked down... Cyborg was smiling at her.

"Bee, be careful..." said Cyborg, prompting the Titans East leader to return a smile of her own.

"You just watch your own butt, Cyborg... if something happens to me, don't do anything reckless."

"Aw, you know me, I'm always careful!"

With a short laugh and a roll of her eyes, Bumblebee followed the rest of her team out the door, leaving just Red X and the members of Titans West in the main room. As soon as Titans East had left, Robin turned and walked toward the hallway leading toward the back of the Tower.

"I'm gonna go do some more research on our enemies, if anyone needs me..."

Raven got up from the couch as well, followed by Cyborg, who had to do a bit of maintenance work on some of his weaponry. As soon as they left, Starfire got up as well, floating over to Robin and taking his hand in hers.

"Please... allow me to assist you, I would like to discuss a strategy I have thought of for the coming battle..."

While it seemed more likely to Robin that Starfire just wanted to spend time with him because the two were a couple, he didn't seem to mind her spending time with him, and it was likely that she did in fact have a strategy, though discussing it with him was obviously just an excuse.

The two of them left together, which left Beast Boy, Terra, and Red X as the only three people left in the main room. They sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Beast Boy got up from the couch and walked over to the television.

"I uh... know we should probably use any free time we have to get ready for the Brotherhood of Evil, but if you guys wanna play some video games..."

"Um, actually, I kind of just wanted to sit and talk," said Terra, her hands in her lap, her thumbs nervously twiddling back and forth. "I mean, if that's okay with you..."

"No, that's totally okay!" said Beast Boy, though it was clear from the look on his face that he was obviously disappointed... he'd wanted to play video games with Terra so that he could spend time with her, but if she just wanted to talk, it was quite obvious who she wanted to talk _to_. "Um... if you want, I could leave you guys alone..."

But Terra didn't want to be left alone, she wanted to talk to Beast Boy and to Red X... as she knew that the two of them hadn't talked with one another since she'd made her decision to be Sanza's girlfriend. It hadn't been out of bitterness that the two hadn't spoken, in all the chaos surrounding the impending battle for Jump City, the two simply hadn't had the time. Now that they did, Terra knew that it was as good a time as ever for her two best friends to sit down and discuss everything that they had on their minds.

"Sanza, is it okay if we talk...? Me, you, and-"

"Sure," replied Red X, "in fact..."

He reached up and removed his mask, setting it down on his lap and looking over at Beast Boy, his hazel-colored eyes meeting the changeling's own.

"I figured this was mostly a Sanza matter..."

Beast Boy nodded in agreement and walked back over to the couch, sitting down on the other side of Terra and looking past her over at Sanza.

"Look, I don't have any hard feelings with you about... you know, Terra..." Was that all that Beast Boy needed to say? That he had no hard feelings? Sure, he wasn't _angry _at Sanza... he knew that Sanza hadn't set out to take Terra away from him, knew that Terra wasn't really even his to begin with... at least not after he'd started having feelings for Raven.

But he also knew that that wasn't the only reason that Terra had decided to give her heart to Sanza. Beast Boy knew that whenever Terra spoke to him, she felt an intense guilt for everything she'd done, and no matter how many times Beast Boy had tried to forgive her, no matter how much that Terra knew that Beast Boy didn't blame her for all the mistakes she'd made, it wouldn't be nearly good enough... Terra would always feel guilty.

"I know you don't, Beast Boy..." said Terra, reaching over and taking the changeling's hands in hers, a warm smile on her face. "I don't want you to feel like I'm rejecting you... I'm not... I still want to be friends with you, you're still my definition of fun, it's just that..."

"You never hurt Sanza," replied Beast Boy, looking away slightly. "And you still feel guilty about hurting me."

"...yes, Beast Boy, that's right..." Even now, Terra felt guilty, not just about when she'd betrayed Beast Boy to become Slade's apprentice, but she felt guilty that she'd hurt him by deciding to be with Sanza... but she still had no regrets. Not only did she not feel a twinge of guilt every time she spoke to Sanza, but she also knew that no matter what she did, he would never judge her, or turn against her, or hate her... being with Sanza gave Terra more comfort, more stability than she'd ever had at any other time in her troubled life... and with Slade on the prowl, a constant reminder of Terra's worst mistake, it was comfort she needed now more than ever.

"You don't have to feel guilty, Terra..." said Sanza, reaching over and placing a hand on Terra's shoulder. She smiled and turned back toward him, her grip on Beast Boy's hands loosening as she gently released them. "I... I didn't mean to spoil the moment, but-"

"No, it's fine..." Terra looked back over at Beast Boy, who was able to muster up a slight smile... then a larger one, as the realization of what this new relationship meant for the emotional well-being of the girl that he still considered the best friend he'd ever had.

"_She's so happy with him..." _thought Beast Boy. _"Happier than I've ever seen her... geez, am I really that generous...? I didn't actually think I'd ever be like this, but... it's Terra... and I still have Raven, so..."_

Terra wrapped her arms gently around Beast Boy, giving him a hug that he was all too eager to return in kind. The two hugged for nearly ten seconds as Sanza watched them, content to allow whatever time Terra needed to adjust her relationship with Beast Boy from 'couple' mode to 'just friends' mode. All that mattered now was that Terra was happy... and hopefully, safe from whatever Slade or any other villains might be planning.

"_I made a promise and I'm going to keep it, Terra... you saved me last night, and I promise that if you get into trouble, I'll save you too."_

O-O-O

The heroes continued to make their way into the city... including Hot Spot, who was having a bit of trouble getting away from the villainous duo of Punk Rocket and Adonis. He weaved his way through alleys and abandoned buildings, but no matter where he ran, his two pursuers were right behind him... and he was starting to wear out.

"It's only a matter of time now, fireball!" shouted Punk Rocket, shooting blast after blast at Hotspot from his floating guitar. Hotspot rolled out of the way and responded in kind, shooting several heat blasts at Punk Rocket that the wild-haired musical villain was easily able to dodge.

"_He doesn't have to touch me to attack me..." _thought Hotspot, entering a small storage building and hiding behind a large stack of crates. _"But the big guy does... so that gives me a _bit _of an advantage..."_

Adonis entered the building first, angrily swatting over boxes, machinery, and whatever items he could to find the hero he was assigned to capture. Large, blistering burns on his hands were a testament to the fact that he'd attempted to use physical force to catch Hotspot and had failed miserably... it would be up to Punk Rocket to weaken Hotspot to the point that he could no longer keep his hot outer layer active... and at that point, Adonis could go in for the kill.

"Come on out, or I'm gonna smash you!" Adonis stalked the warehouse, destroying anything that Hotspot could possibly be hiding behind... until finally, he reached the large stack of boxes that Hotspot was using as cover.

"_It's now or never..." _thought Hotspot, scooting back and allowing Adonis to ram his fist right through the boxes. As soon as he did, Hotspot lunged forward and showered Adonis with fireballs, quickly bringing the large villain to his knees. "You shoulda known you couldn't handle all this heat..."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" shouted Punk Rocket, bashing Hotspot over the head with his guitar. Hotspot toppled over, falling to one knee and reverting back to his normal state, completely at Adonis and Punk Rocket's mercy. "Now to take you out for good..."

Punk Rocket raised his guitar, which began glowing with a powerful electrical charge... then, suddenly, his entire body was engulfed in water. The electrically-charged guitar immediately began shocking its owner, and with a loud, pained scream, Punk Rocket collapsed to the ground, smoke rising from his body. When Hotspot looked up, he could see Aqualad standing behind Punk Rocket, reaching over and offering the superhero a hand.

"Thanks, Aqualad..." said Hotspot, taking Aqualad's assistance and standing up quickly. He released Aqualad's hand, and his body returned to its fiery state. "If you hadn't shown up..."

"Behind you!" Aqualad shouted, pointing at the large, destroyed pile of crates behind Hotspot. Adonis was just starting to get up from Hotspot's earlier attack, and it was clear that he wasn't happy... "We'd better hurry back to the Tower, come on!"

Aqualad and Hotspot escaped the warehouse before Punk Rocket and Adonis could recover... but soon, the two villains began to give chase once more.

O-O-O

On a nearby rooftop, the swordfighter Bushido had his hands full... his opponent Control Freak had him outnumbered, two swords to one.

"Heheh... this is just like one of those old samurai movies, except this time, the bad guy's gonna win!" In keeping with samurai tradition, Control Freak was dressed in a silken robe and a pair of sandals... but for Bushido, it wasn't fun and games. His life was in serious danger.

"I will defeat you, and restore order to this city!" declared Bushido, launching into a sweeping sword motion that Control Freak was easily able to dodge._ "How is this strange man avoiding my attacks...? I have spent my entire life training in the ways of the samurai!"_

But Control Freak, being the lazy couch potato that he was, wasn't one to waste valuable television-watching time on training... and instead, he'd simply used his remote to give himself the skills he needed. Those skills, combined with his two swords, gave him a decisive advantage... Bushido was in trouble.

The samurai hero now found himself up against the edge of the roof, desperately parrying Control Freak's quick, precise sword attacks... he looked down at the street below, and knew that he had two choices: be carved to ribbons by Control Freak, or jump fifty feet to the ground.

"Looks like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place... or in this case, between two swords and a long fall! Say goodnight, loser..."

A hail of yellow-colored energy blasts rained down on the roof, knocking Control Freak away from Bushido and causing him to look around to see who, or what, had just attacked him.

"What the... where-"

"Right here on your shoulder, big guy..." Perched on Control Freak's right shoulder was Bumblebee, who'd shrunk herself to miniature size. When he looked at her, she quickly fluttered over to his other shoulder and giggled at him. "C'mon, you gotta be quicker than that..."

She leaped up and kicked Control Freak several times in the face. At her small size, the kicks felt more like painful bee stings than devastating blows, but it was certainly annoying enough to distract Control Freak from his target.

"Hey... stop it now, I know kung fu!" Control Freak wildly swung his two swords, but Bumblebee dodged every single slash, flittering back over to Bushido and returning to normal size.

"I must thank you for your assistance, Bumblebee-san..." Bushido said gratefully. Bumblebee didn't reply, instead, she took Bushido's hand and leapt off the roof, floating down gracefully to the sidewalk below.

"You can thank me when we get back to the Tower... you're still in danger, we gotta move!"

O-O-O

As the new heroes continued to pour into the city, and were engaged by the villains assigned to stop them, the four members of the Brotherhood of Evil, along with Derek Voscoti and the criminal mastermind Slade, watched the chaos unfold from the comfort of their headquarters. They were viewing several large screens, displaying images of the various battles that were taking place... and next to the screens was a large map of Jump City, with flashing blue dots representing the locations of the heroes, and red dots the locations of the villains attacking them.

"Everything is going according to plan..." stated the Brain. "The young heroes are being met with overwhelming force... any effort at organization will prove very difficult indeed."

"The Teen Titans have not yet been summoned..." said Mallah, noticing six large blue blips emanating from Titans Tower. "Could it be that our forces are not having as much success as we'd anticipated?"

"Perhaps..." said General Immortus, "but sooner or later, the Titans will have to be summoned..."

"And when they are, I will be there to stop them." Slade turned away from the screens and walked out of the room. He had yet to elaborate on whatever it was he'd been working on the previous night, and Madame Rouge found herself increasingly curious as to just what Slade's secret plan could possibly be... after all, she still didn't trust him to be working in the Brotherhood of Evil's best interests.

Voscoti, sensing some of the uneasiness, reached out to place a hand on Rouge's shoulder... but before it was even halfway there, he found it painfully swatted away.

"Don't touch me..._ ever_," said Madame Rouge, walking past Voscoti and following Slade out of the room. _"Whatever Slade is planning, I believe I will go see it for myself..."_

O-O-O

What had once been Robin's bo staff was now being used by Cheshire to rain down blow after blow on the horn-wielding Herald. The blows were disorienting at first, but upon repeated contact against increasingly tender skin were starting to become more and more painful, and soon, Herald found himself backed up against a tall, brick wall. He raised up his horn and managed to open a small portal before Cheshire smacked him again, right on the hand. The horn immediately fell to the ground, and the red and black portal it had formed completely disappeared.

"Damn... can't believe you're moving so quickly...!" shouted Herald, pressing himself up against the wall and throwing both of his legs out at Cheshire's face. The kick connected, knocking her back several steps... but it was only a minor deterrent, and she quickly rushed forward again, slamming her staff into Herald's gut before uppercutting him in the jaw with her fist. The cloaked hero slumped down to the ground, a trickle of blood seeping out from the side of his lips.

"_All too easy..." _thought Cheshire, raising the staff up and preparing to go in for the kill. Suddenly, she felt a violent explosion against the small of her back, an explosion that threw her forward, face-first into the wall. She hit the wall with such force that for a moment, she blacked out... and at the same time, the staff that she was holding fell from her hands and clattered to the ground. Herald rolled out of the way of the falling villainess, standing up to see Speedy walking toward him.

"Hey... you're..."

"Speedy," said the masked hero, a smile on his face as he helped Herald up from the ground. "For a moment there, I thought this mission wasn't going to be any fun at all..."

"Well, I haven't been having much fun..." Herald responded, picking up his horn from the ground and checking it to make sure there weren't any dings or scrapes. "Thanks for coming."

Still lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, Cheshire slowly picked up her aching body. She raised her hand up to the mask on her face and could feel that a small crack had formed over her forehead... but it was better to have a cracked mask than a bloodied face.

"_What the hell was that?" _thought Cheshire, turning away from the wall to see her target speaking with one of the most handsome people she'd ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. _"...that guy... the guy who just blasted me..."_

She clenched her fists and looked down at the ground, searching for the bo staff which she'd dropped when she hit the wall.

"Hey, catgirl... looking for this?" Speedy taunted, holding up Robin's bo staff and twirling it in his hands. "This belongs to a friend of mine, so... if you don't mind, I'm gonna take it back to him now..."

"Grrr... GIVE THAT BACK!"

Cheshire immediately let out a gasp, putting her hands to the part of the mask where her mouth would be... she'd been trained to stay silent on any mission, and never to let any of her foes hear her voice... now she was _really _pissed.

"You know, you sound really cute when you're mad..." said Speedy, handing Robin's bo staff to Herald while readying his bow to fire another explosive arrow at Cheshire. "I bet you look cute too, under that mask... so why don't you take it off, and-"

With an angry hiss, Cheshire lunged forward, dodging Speedy's arrow and punching him right in the face.

O-O-O

Mumbo, Kitten, and Fang strolled victoriously down the sidewalk with their captive, the bound and gagged Argent, securely in tow. She was being carried unceremoniously over Mumbo's shoulder, and was struggling the entire time, furious to have been captured so easily.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to um... kill whoever we find?" asked Kitten, leaning over and looking Argent squarely in the face, trying to see if the silver-skinned heroine would show any fear... she didn't.

"That is true, the Brain told us to wipe out the new heroes," added Fang, gesturing with both his human hands and his spider legs.

"Oh, but a show's no fun without a nice audience to watch it, and I'm planning to bring in a lot more heroes... that way, they can all watch as I saw my beautiful new assistant Argent in half!" shouted Mumbo, laughing loudly as he felt Argent continue to struggle over his shoulder. "In fact-"

Mumbo barely saw Mas y Menos coming... but by the time he did, he was flat on his face on the sidewalk, with Argent lying next to him. Both of them had surprised looks on their faces... but Kitten and Fang were the first to actually see the twin superheroes, already standing fifty feet away and coming back toward them.

"LOOK OUT!!!" Kitten screamed frightfully, leaping into Fang's arms as the two incredibly quick twins charged into both of them. They flew up into the air, landing in a crumpled heap where Fang had once been standing. This time, Mas y Menos stopped just ten feet away, pointing and laughing at all three downed villains.

"This... isn't over..." said Mumbo, slowly picking himself up from the ground. Nearby, Argent began squirming furiously, still wrapped up tightly in the multi-colored ribbon bonds that Mumbo had wrapped around her.

"_¡Usted ahorra Argent, yo tratará de estos malos individuos!" _said Menos, pointing at Argent. Mas nodded his head and rushed toward the distressed damsel, only to be grabbed by Kitten, who held him up by his shirt collar as she rose to her feet.

"I don't _think _so..." said Kitten, her eyes narrowed in rage. Menos gasped, until he too was grabbed and lifted up by his collar, this time by Fang.

"Hey look, baby... when you hold 'em apart they can't do anything!" shouted Fang, laughing at Menos struggled helplessly in his grasp.

"Ooooh... I think you're right! And they're both so cute and adorable... my daddy has lots of cages at home that you two will be right at home in!"

As Mas and Menos desperately tried to get to one another, Argent watched in horror, letting out a frightened gasp through her zipped-up lips. She began struggling again, rolling onto her back only to see Mumbo slowly advancing on her.

"And as for you, there's still a magic show that you and your friends will just die for!" Mumbo said menacingly.

"_I can't let these guys hurt my friends... especially not Mas and Menos, they tried to save me...!!!" _Argent clenched her fists beneath the ribbons, closing her eyes and channeling all of her energy. _"Come on... come on...!"_

"_¡Menos, tenemos que conseguir libres y ayudarle!" _shouted Mas, reaching out to both his twin brother and to Argent, who he could see was fighting desperately to get free. _"¡Adelantado!"_

"_¡Estoy intendo, estoy intendo!!" _replied Menos, trying just as hard as his brother was to try and make the connection that Mas y Menos needed for their powers to work.

Suddenly, Argent had a breakthrough. The ribbons around her entire body ripped apart as two glowing energy mallets appeared, one in each hand. She quickly got to her feet and leapt back, hitting Mumbo in the face with one mallet to knock him into a daze, then bashing him on the head with another to knock him out. She dropped the mallets and unzipped her lips, causing the zipper to disappear with a puff of smoke as soon as she'd gotten it open.

"Now for you two...!" shouted Argent, bombarding Kitten and Fang with energy blasts until they were forced to release Mas y Menos. The two brothers hit the ground at the same time, touching hands and quickly rushing over to Argent, each of them hugging one of her legs.

"_Gracias, gracias!!" _they both shouted, gratefully rubbing their heads against Argent's thighs. The silver-skinned girl giggled, gently pulling them off of her legs and patting them both on the head.

"I don't know a lick of Spanish, but I'm pretty sure that means 'thank you', so... you're welcome. I should be thanking you first, you did come to rescue me after all..."

As Argent expressed her gratitude, the young twins' faced turned almost completely red... once again, Mas y Menos had a new crush.

"Grrr... we'll be seeing you losers later!" screamed Kitten, angrily climbing onto Fang's back and riding off down the sidewalk. "C'mon, Fang, let's go make out in a bush or something..."

But behind Argent and the two Spanish twins, Mumbo wasn't about to give up so easily... he stood up behind Argent and pointed his wand squarely at her head.

"_¡Argent, mirada hacia fuera!" _screamed both Mas and Menos, pushing Argent out of the way just in time to take the brunt of his latest spell. In an instant, the two twins of Titans East were transformed into small flowerpots... and Argent was about to be next.

"Oh my god..." gasped Argent, picking up both flowerpots and stumbling backward as Mumbo slowly came toward her.

"Looks like your two young heroes are pushing up daisies... and you're going to be next!"

Argent turned and ran as fast as she could, carrying the two flowerpots with her. With Mas y Menos both transformed, if Argent dropped them, it could be fatal... which left her unable to defend herself against Mumbo's attacks. She ran down the sidewalk for a few seconds with the magician chasing behind her... then took flight, only to find to her horror that Mumbo could still chase her, as he'd formed a magic carpet beneath him in order to take to the skies.

"_This isn't good... I have to get to Titans Tower, right now...!!"_

O-O-O

A few minutes later, the Teen Titans were riding out toward the city... Robin and Starfire were on the T-Cycle, while Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Terra, and Red X were in the T-Car. The police had seen Mumbo and Argent's aerial game of tag and had contacted Titans Tower... and Titans West had no choice but to go out and assist their friend.

"I can't wait to bust up Mumbo again," said Red X, smiling under his mask as he sat between Beast Boy and Terra in the back seat of the T-Car. "So, who's this Argent, anyway?"

"Robin told me that she can form solid material out of energy that she creates inside her body," replied Cyborg, "which sounds pretty cool to me."

"She won't be able to do anything if we don't help her," came Robin's voice over the T-Car's radio. "Have you guys seen anything?"

"Not yet..." said Raven, "but I can sense someone nearby..."

The T-Car crossed the bridge into the east side of the city, and soon came up on a long, deserted street... the road was lined with rows and rows of old tenement houses that hadn't been occupied in decades, and a few abandoned cars that had long since begun to fall apart.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this place..." said Raven quietly.

"Yeah, did you take a wrong turn on Albuquerque Street or something?" shouted Beast Boy, prompting Cyborg to angrily rebuke him.

"I know where I'm goin'! Mumbo and Argent were seen over the east side of the city, this is the east side, so-"

A violent jolt shook the T-Car, causing it to come almost instantly to a stop. Despite the fact that they were wearing seatbelts, all five of the car's occupants were thrown forward, nearly out of their seats before their belts pulled them back. Riding alongside in the T-Cycle, Robin could see exactly what had stopped the car, and quickly rode around behind it, dismounting the T-Cycle along with Starfire in order to confront the person who'd just brought his friends to a screeching halt.

"Slade... what are you doing?! Answer me!"

The arch-villain had his fist buried halfway in the hood of the T-Car, and smoke could be seen pouring out of it along either side of Slade's arm. Slowly, the occupants of the T-Car got out as well, walking around the front of the car to see the same thing that Robin and Starfire were now seeing... and as soon as Terra laid eyes on Slade, she let out a loud, fearful gasp.

"You... leave us alone!"

"You have perfect reason to be afraid, my former apprentice..." said Slade, walking past Robin and Starfire and then turning back to face the whole team. "I've come to destroy you... all of you... even you, Sanza."

Red X stepped forward as well, getting in front of Robin and Starfire and tightly clenching his fists as he confronted the man who'd caused so much pain to both him and Terra.

"This ends tonight, Slade," said X, prompting the villain to open up a control panel on his left wrist, displaying the large red button he'd been working on the previous day. _"What the hell is that...?"_

"Yes, Sanza, it does end... for you... for the Titans... and for Terra," said Slade, pressing down on the button. Immediately, a violent electrical shock went through Terra's body. She fell to her knees, screaming loudly and trembling with intense pain. Red X rushed forward, only to have Terra levitate a rock from the ground and throw it toward his head, hitting him in the skull and knocking him onto his face at Slade's feet. The Titans all turned toward Terra, who was now once again standing up, electricity coursing around her body.

"Terra!" shouted Beast Boy, pointing at Red X, still unable to realize exactly what was happening. "What did you do that for?!"

Terra then lifted up another, much larger rock, and threw it down at all five Titans, hitting them and burying them under a large pile of boulders. With a gasp and a scream, Terra turned toward Slade, trying to lift her hands but being unable to do so. The Titans crawled out from under the rocks that buried them, all of them looking back and forth between Terra and Slade, while at the same time coming to the same terrible realization.

"When I attached the neuro control suit to your body, I also installed a failsafe control chip somewhere inside of you... this chip was designed to be an override in case you somehow were able to remove the suit... but after being killed, I forgot about it for quite some time."

"No..." said Terra quietly, a horrified look on her face. "It's impossible... you can't control me...!!!"

"Yes, I can."

Slade lifted up his arms, causing Terra's arms to lift as well. More pieces of concrete broke off from the ground and flew downward at the Titans, knocking down Robin and Beast Boy before Cyborg and Starfire could punch through the rest. Nearby, Red X was in a daze, still trying to recover from Terra's previous attack... he grabbed Slade's legs in an effort to pull himself up, only to be kicked hard in the face and knocked back toward the Titans and the damaged T-Car.

"Stop it... stop hurting her, you bastard!" shouted Red X, picking himself up from the ground and clenching his fists in rage. He couldn't believe what he was seeing... Terra, her body completely under Slade's control, once again being forced to live through the nightmare of harming her friends. "SHE DOESN'T WANT TO WORK FOR YOU!"

"That's the idea," said Slade. He raised his arms again, and this time, Terra lifted up the slab of concrete under which the T-Car was sitting.

"No... no, you can't make me...!!!" screamed Terra, tears running down her cheeks as Slade forced her to carry the slab of concrete right above Red X's head.

"Terra...!!!" Thinking quickly, Starfire flew up and blasted the T-Car with eye lasers, destroying both the car and the rock that it was on... a move that sacrificed the T-Car in order to save Sanza's life. Letting out a regretful sigh, Cyborg turned toward Slade and pointed his plasma cannon at the criminal mastermind's head.

"I'm blamin' you for destroying my car!" shouted Cyborg, right before the ground split beneath his feet and he fell into a massive fissure that Terra had been forced to open up. As Cyborg hung on for dear life, Slade turned and walked away, disappearing into the cloud of dust which Terra's actions had kicked up, and leaving the group alone to deal with their friend, her body now completely under Slade's control.

"Terra... fight it, I know you can fight it!" But as Beast Boy looked into Terra's fearful, tear-filled eyes, he knew in an instant that she couldn't... she was trying as hard as she could, but as strong as she was, Slade's control chip was stronger.

"Get out of here... all of you, go!" Terra said, speaking through several sobs. She looked over at all of her friends... watching Starfire pull Cyborg out of the crack that he'd fallen down in, then glancing at Robin and Raven before turning to Beast Boy... and finally, to Red X.

She lifted up her hands again, instantly forming two dozen stone men that rose up from the concrete and marched toward the Teen Titans. The Titans went into battle stances, trying to fight off the men, while Red X ran around all of them, coming at Terra from her left and trying to reach her before Slade made her attack again.

"Terra... I can stop you..." he pointed his hand at her and fired a set of binding cables, which she destroyed easily by punching through them with a stone fist that continued forward and slammed into Red X's chest.

"SANZA!" Terra watched helplessly as her attack sent Red X crashing through the window of an abandoned tenement apartment. Before she could see what had happened to him, a cloud of dust obscured him from view, and her attention returned to her fellow Titans, who had shattered all of the stone men that Terra had formed. They surrounded Terra on all sides, but did not attack her... they didn't want to leave her until they knew that Slade could no longer control her body. "What are you doing, I told you to leave...!"

"We can't leave you here, we have to find out how to stop Slade's control!" shouted Robin, turning to Cyborg and giving him an order. "Use your scanner to find that control chip, we have to get it out of her before-"

Terra let out a loud scream, just as several pillars of stone burst up from beneath the Titans' feet. Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy were all able to use their gift of flight to get airborne, but Robin and Cyborg found themselves flung into the air, their bruised bodies hitting the ground a short distance away. Horrified, Terra once again tried to break free of Slade's control... but the powerful electrical impulses on her nerves were far too strong.

"_This is a nightmare... I thought I'd never have to deal with this happening ever again... it's worse than last time, I can't even move my fingers unless Slade tells me to!" _The only thing that Terra could move on her own was her head... everything else was completely under Slade's control, and he was using her powers to great effect. As soon as Robin and Cyborg hit the ground, the concrete beneath them liquefied and then re-hardened, leaving the two heroes with just their head, hands, and feet above the ground.

"What are we to do...?" asked Starfire, who, along with Raven and falcon Beast Boy, was floating above Terra's head and wondering, like the rest of the team, how to possibly liberate Terra from Slade's control. "Raven, can you detect where inside Terra's body the control chip is...?"

"Not unless she knows where it is, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't..." responded Raven. From her position just above Terra's head, she could easily sense her blonde friend's brainwaves... Terra's mind was in turmoil, and every horrible memory that she had of her time with Slade was all rushing back at once, filling her with crushing guilt and undoing all of the work that the Titans had done in the past month to raise her spirits again. _"Terra... none of this is your fault, you have to stay calm, I promise we can help you!"_

But Raven's thoughts weren't reaching Terra's mind... with every second, the girl was becoming more and more frightened, and more and more in despair... and the fact that her friends were all staying to try and help her just made it worse.

"You all have to go!" shouted Terra, involuntarily ripping a large section of brick from one of the tenement buildings and flinging it at Starfire and Raven. Starfire put out her hands to try and stop it, but all she managed to do was cushion the blow a bit as she and her friend were sent plummeting to the ground, buried until a pile of bricks. "Please... I don't want to hurt you...!"

Red X weakly crawled out the window of the building that Terra had knocked him into, running past the immobile Robin and Cyborg and firing another set of cables in Terra's direction. This time, he was successful, binding up Terra's arms and legs and knocking her to the ground... but a few seconds later, she'd ripped free, standing up with a powerful current of electricity coursing through her body. She screamed as her frail body was forced to undergo a tremendous amount of strain, far more than she was used to... and by the time she'd freed herself, she could feel a burning, tearing sensation in all of her muscles... by trying to stop her, Red X had inadvertently caused Terra much, much more agony.

"Terra... _dammit... I thought... I thought Slade wouldn't be able to-_"

Terra let out another scream, sending up a wave of concrete that slammed into Red X's body, knocking him back to the ground. By now, Terra's face was completely covered in tears, and she was breathing incredibly heavily, her eyes wide and contorted in misery.

"Just... leave... me...!!"

Beast Boy, now detransformed from his falcon state, dropped down to the ground and rushed over to Terra, desperately trying to comfort his friend. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and wiped some of the tears from her face, telling her over and over again that everything would be all right. But Terra knew better. Once again spurned on by Slade's control, she ripped her arms free and slowly backed away.

"Beast Boy... go... everyone... please..." More small pieces of concrete came rushing Beast Boy's way. He allowed them to repeatedly smack into his body, bruising him in several places and even giving him a bloody nose... but still, he was not deterred. He continued toward Terra, not stopping until he was right next to her again... and receiving a punch to the stomach for his trouble. _"No... stop it... stop making me do this...!!!"_

Terra's fist, surrounded by sparking blue electricity, began to pull back from the changeling's gut as he fell to his knees in front of her.

"Robin, if you're so fucking smart, come up with a way to save Terra!" shouted Red X, forming a large, X-shaped hole in the street and freeing Robin and Cyborg. "Do it... please..."

Beneath the mask, the thief was about to cry... seeing Terra in such a horrendous mental state, being forced by Slade to attack her best friends was almost too much for Sanza to bear... but out of pride, he restrained his emotions, letting only his anger show.

"The scanner hasn't picked up anything yet, but-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Terra was now holding a large, spiked rock above Beast Boy's head, just as she'd done so long ago in Slade's lair. Beast Boy, his eyes wide in horror, looked up into Terra's tear-filled eyes... Terra screamed again, trying with everything she had to resist Slade's control.

"Beast Boy... move out of the way, I can't stop it...!"

"Terra! Yes you can! You can fight it!" Raven shouted.

She and Starfire now stood behind Terra, but both of them were unwilling to hurt their friend for something they knew she couldn't control... even if it did mean that Beast Boy would soon meet a gruesome end. Standing in front of Terra, Robin and Cyborg were just as reluctant... but as Red X looked into Terra's eyes, he knew _exactly _what had to be done.

"_Terra... forgive me..." _And then, he blasted Terra in the chest with an exploding X, knocking her backward and causing the rock in her hands to fall apart. As Terra skidded on the ground behind Starfire and Raven, Beast Boy looked up at Red X, horrified at what he'd seen the thief do... especially since he was supposed to be in love with Terra.

"DUDE! Why did you just-"

"We have to attack her, Beast Boy, it's the only way," said Red X, extremely reluctantly. "We have to try and knock her out so Slade can't use her anymore... the only way to stop her is to fight her!"

Terra was just as shocked as the other Titans were... but as she stood up, forced to do so by Slade's control over her body, she breathed an intense sigh of relief... and began begging the other Titans to attack her as well.

"Sanza's right, the only way to stop me is to attack me... please...!" Terra levitated a huge pillar of concrete from the ground, turning it sideways and sending it flying at Starfire and Raven. The half-demoness stepped forward, taking control of the pillar and keeping it hovering in place, while at the same time looking right into Terra's eyes.

"Terra..." she said quietly, "are you sure you want me to attack you?"

"Yes, hit me with everything you have..." Terra sobbed. "PLEASE!"

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!" Raven sent the pillar flying back at Terra, hitting her in the chest and knocking her all the way into the building behind her. She turned to the rest of the team, who was regrouping as quickly as they could. "You heard Terra... she's our friend, but she doesn't want to be under Slade's control... the only way we can stop her is to knock her out! We're not trying to kill her, but we still can't hold back, we have to do this quick!"

"Raven is correct... but it brings me great sadness to attack my friend..." said Starfire, bowing her head. She herself was about to cry at the prospect of what she was going to have to do... but her tears were stopped by Robin's hand touching her shoulder. He looked up at her, trying to comfort her as best he could.

"Terra knows what we have to do to stop her... this is what she wants," said Robin calmly. Just as Starfire nodded, the building that Terra had just been knocked into exploded in a shower of bricks that bombarded all the Titans. Raven quickly crouched down, raising up an energy shield that protected her friends, while Terra quickly emerged from the crater left by the building's destruction, her fists clenched tightly in front of her.

"_This is going to hurt..." _thought Terra, bowing her head and preparing for an onslaught of attacks by her friends. _"But if it's the only way to stop Slade's plans..."_

The shield disappeared, and as soon as it did, the Titans rushed forward. Starfire pelted Terra repeatedly with Starbolts, which stopped her for a moment before Slade's control once again forced her forward. She extended her arm and caused a stony fist to burst up from the ground, but before it could hit Starfire, Robin had destroyed it with a cluster bomb, before hurling another explosive Terra's way. The geomancer prepared for impact, only to leap out of the way at the last moment and fling several bricks at Robin.

"_I don't believe it... Slade's making me dodge all their attacks... but... they've beaten me before and they can beat me again...!"_ Terra turned to see Raven rushing right at her, but instead of hitting the blonde with an energy blast, Raven decided to engage in fisticuffs, launching a series of punches and kicks that Terra blocked almost effortlessly. "Raven, you're not fighting me, you're fighting Slade, he's too good of a fighter to-"

But Terra's warning came too late, as she rammed her fist into Raven's chin, a vicious uppercut that immediately knocked the cloaked Titan to the ground. She continued backing off down the street, tossing large pieces of concrete at the advancing Titans with every step.

"Terra, hold on!" shouted Beast Boy, transforming into an elephant and charging through the hail of concrete to knock Terra to the ground. He stood over her, lifting her up with his trunk and preparing to knock her out by ramming her head into the concrete. _"I promise I'll make this quick..."_

Terra responded by flipping up the ground beneath Beast Boy's feet, sending him tumbling onto his back and causing his grip on Terra to release. She landed in a standing position and watched in horrified helplessness as the chunk of concrete that Beast Boy was standing on flipped all the way over, trapping him beneath the ground.

"No... BEAST BOY...!!!"

She tried to lift up the ground to get to him, but Slade's control prevented her from making any sort of attack, and instead, she stood motionless where she had landed, watching as Red X once again came at her, followed by the rest of the Teen Titans.

"Sanza... stop... stop...!!"

"Don't worry, Terra, I can do this!" Red X threw down several Xs on the street around Terra. They began to glow as they landed, and soon formed an electrical field that surrounded the geomancer, bringing her to her knees with a loud cry of pain. _"I hate doing this to Terra... I hate Slade for MAKING me do this to Terra..."_

As Terra continued to scream, the thief began to feel more and more guilty... but he knew that in just a matter of seconds, the pain would likely cause Terra to pass out, ending, at least for now, the immense threat that she and her powers posed.

"Sanza... thank you..." Terra said weakly, fighting through her pain just long enough to give him a smile.

"Just a bit more... then... I promise it'll be over, Terra..." said Red X, again trying desperately to fight back tears.

Suddenly, the electrical field disappeared completely. The four Xs that the thief had laid on the ground had all been pierced by tiny spikes of rock... and Terra was soon standing once more, though now she was feeling an immense amount of pain as her body was forced upward with the electricity of the shocks she'd just suffered still coursing through her body.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!" screamed Raven, bombarding Terra with blasts of dark energy. At the same time, Starfire was hitting Terra with Starbolts, while Robin was preparing to use a freeze bomb to encase Terra in ice. When the smoke from the attacks faded, a sobbing Terra continued to stand firm, her fists tightly clenched as the ground began to crack beneath her feet.

"It didn't work...!" shouted Starfire, amazed that Terra was still conscious after such a prodigious energy assault. _"And now she is in terrible pain... I fear that all of our efforts have just made Terra feel much, much worse!"_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Letting out a cry of agony, Terra thrust her arms forward, causing the crack beneath her feet to begin rapidly moving toward the Titans, splitting the road between them and putting Robin, Starfire, and Raven on one side of her body and Red X and Cyborg on the other. From beneath the crack, Beast Boy, now detransformed and covered in sewer water, scurried up and crawled over to the side where X was standing, gasping for breath and looking back at Terra the whole time.

"_Terra... I'm so sorry I let this happen..." _thought Beast Boy, barely able to stand as the ground shook beneath his feet.

"Here goes...!" Robin threw the freeze bomb at Terra, just before falling to his knees because of the intense shaking. The freeze bomb exploded above Terra's head, encasing her in ice. The shaking immediately stopped, and Robin was allowed to climb to his feet, briefly looking over at the five-foot wide gap in the pavement that Terra's powers had made. The large gap was more than two hundred feet long, and the violent shaking that had caused it had also caused several of the apartments lining the street to collapse.

For a moment, the Titans said nothing... Red X hesitantly made his way over to Terra, walking around the near end of the fissure in the pavement to get close to her frozen body.

"Don't touch her," ordered Robin, "the heat from your hands could cause the ice to melt."

But Red X touched the frozen Terra anyway, his gloved hand stroking across the side of her ice-covered cheek. A single tear escaped from his right eye, but was quickly absorbed against the inside of his mask, and only the thief knew he had cried it.

"_How ironic... after being controlled by Slade, you become a statue again... but this time, we'll get you out of there quick... and I promise, by the time you recover, you won't ever have to worry about being controlled by Slade again."_

"Robin," said Cyborg, turning to the Boy Wonder and displaying a reading that he'd just picked up on his scanner. "The control chip's in Terra's left arm, it's buried right under her skin..."

Beneath the ice, Terra's eyes began to glow... and slowly, a large crack appeared in the frozen Titan's face. It moved down to her chest and then, to her legs... the ice encasing Terra was about to shatter into pieces.

"X, get away from there!" shouted Robin. Instinctively, the thief backed off... but only a few feet, just far enough so that he wouldn't be impaled by shards of ice... the Titan beneath all of that ice didn't scare him a bit.

"_I'm getting that chip out of you..." _thought Red X, extending his wrist blades and crouching down into a fighting position.

"X, did you hear Robin...?" said Raven, whose admonishment was immediately followed by a worried cry from Starfire.

"You must get away from Terra, before-"

But it was too late. The ice around the frozen Titan shattered and fell to the ground, raining a few small shards upon Red X, but leaving him ultimately unharmed. Terra stood upright for a couple of seconds, the glow in her eyes fading almost immediately as she stared out at the Titans, and then at Red X... then fell to her knees, her body shaking violently. Blue sparks were crackling from her skin, and tears were streaking rapidly down her face. X immediately rushed to her side and brought her head up to look at him, wiping the tears from her cheeks and fighting the urge to wrap his arms around her... then, without any regard for his own safety, and not caring if Slade forced Terra to kill him, wrapped her up in a tight embrace... only to immediately be pushed away.

"Terra...!" Beast Boy let out a loud gasp, realizing quickly that Terra had pushed X away under her own power. "The chip... it's stopped-"

"No... only for a few seconds... you have to get out of here... the chip's shorted, but... it's repairing itself, I can feel it repairing itself inside my body... please... please go!"

"It's inside your arm," said X, lifting Terra's arm up onto his knee, his entire body beginning to shake. "I can... get it out, but-"

Terra gasped quietly, looking up into X's eyes and realizing exactly what he meant. Her eyes quickly glanced to his right wrist blade, which he'd lifted up as well. Then, she looked back at X.

"Terra... do you trust me?"

In order to remove the chip from her arm, Red X would have to cut it open... it would be painful, it would be messy... but it would also liberate her from Slade forever. She looked into X's eyes and gave a quiet nod.

"Yes... with all of my heart I trust you..." she whispered, giving X a brief smile before beginning to tremble and wince.

"...then here," said X, removing the mask from his face and lifting it up to Terra's lips. "Bite down on this..."

Terra opened her mouth and accepted the large piece of smooth fabric that Sanza gently placed inside, biting down on it as hard as she could and closing her eyes, praying that Slade's control wouldn't suddenly return the moment before Sanza was able to pull out the chip.

Carefully, Sanza lowered his wrist blade toward Terra's arm. As soon as he began to slice into the skin, she let out a scream, stifling it by biting down on the piece of fabric between her teeth. Sanza continued to cut into the skin, parting it back and wincing as a large amount of blood poured out between his fingers.

"Dude..." said Beast Boy quietly, not wanting to watch the impromptu display of battlefield surgery that was taking place. Starfire was reluctant to watch as well, hiding her face in Robin's cloak as Sanza began looking for the chip somewhere beneath Terra's skin.

"_Be careful..." _thought Robin, _"even if you find the chip there could be some kind of tamperproof function that might make removing it extremely dangerous... I know you want to help Terra, but-"_

"Found it," said Sanza quietly, staring directly at a faint, blinking red light attached to a layer of Terra's muscle. He reached in with the blade and, as carefully as he could, flicked the tiny chip off of her nerve, sending it flying up into the air and landing harmlessly on the street nearby. "There... it's gone..."

Though her arm was still in incredible pain, Terra spit out the mask and lunged forward at Sanza, embracing him tightly with the one arm that she could still use... her other arm was still dripping blood at a fairly quick pace. She sobbed as she held Sanza to her body, and a few seconds later, Sanza began to cry as well.

"I'm sorry... I had to hurt you..."

"Sanza, you saved me..." Terra whispered, still sobbing violently as the other Titans ran over to her. "You saved me... you didn't hurt me at all..."

"Here, I can heal your arm..." said Raven, gently pulling Terra out of the embrace and placing her hand directly on the girl's wound. As the healing waves of energy radiated throughout Terra's body, her physical pain was ended... but her emotional pain was still there, and Raven could easily sense that her friend wouldn't be well again for quite some time. "This wasn't your fault, you didn't do anything wrong..."

"Yes I did..." sobbed Terra, standing up as soon as her arm was healed. "This only happened because I agreed to work for Slade..."

"But... Terra, you stopped working for him, remember?" said Beast Boy, walking toward Terra and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You sacrificed yourself to save the city!"

"Only to stop a disaster that my powers caused," said Terra, pulling away from Beast Boy and walking away from all of the Titans... and Sanza as well. "All of this is my fault..."

Terra stopped after a few steps, turning back toward Sanza and the Titans, tears still streaking down both sides of her face. Slade's most recent attack had shown Terra just why she still felt guilty about her past, and why even now, she still posed a danger to the team. Even though she'd rejoined the Teen Titans, even though she'd tried to use her powers for good... Slade had still been able to use them for evil, and it had almost cost the Titans their lives.

"I can't... I can't be a Teen Titan anymore."

"Terra, what are you saying?" replied Robin, walking forward, only to have Terra take an equal amount of steps back. "Nothing that happened today was your fault! Slade took control of you and your powers-"

"BECAUSE I LET HIM! I agreed to be his apprentice, I agreed to help him kill you! I don't care if you think I've atoned for what I've done, all the atoning in the world doesn't mean anything if your lives are still in danger! For the good of the team, I have to go... I'm sorry."

None of the Titans knew what to say, all of them were so stunned by what had just happened... after they'd seen Terra so happy just a few days before, this happens, and now... now she didn't want to be a Teen Titan at all, because she thought she posed a danger that the Titans knew she didn't.

But nothing they could say would be able to convince Terra otherwise... and without another word, she left, flinging her communicator at the team as she ran off down the street. It was caught by Beast Boy, who held onto it for only a couple of seconds before Sanza snatched it away.

"I'm not going to let her do this," said Sanza, picking up his mask and running off after Terra with both his mask and her communicator in hand. _"She's making a big mistake!!"_

The five original Titans, physically hurt by Terra's attack and emotionally numb from her sudden announcement, were left standing in the middle of a broken street, wondering what they could possibly do next. All thoughts of Mumbo and Argent and of the Brotherhood of Evil had completely exited their minds.

"What do we do now...?" asked Raven, her normally calm voice showing an unusual amount of distress.

"We go back to the Tower," said Robin, glancing over at his T-Cycle, wrecked during the battle and lying in ruins by the side of the road. At least it was faring better than the T-Car, which had been smashed into scrap metal that was now floating in the sewer somewhere. "Come on, team... let's go."

O-O-O

Terra ran for several minutes before her exhausted body could take no more, and she was finally forced to stop for a moment to catch her breath. It was then that Sanza finally caught up to her, but Terra already knew what he was going to say.

"Sanza, I can't," said Terra, turning to Sanza and looking down at the communicator that he was holding in his hand. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and she looked as if she was about to start crying again as she continued to speak. "You saw what happened back there... I almost-"

"But it's _over_, Terra... Slade's chip is out of your body-"

"But Slade's still around! As long as he's around, I can't... I can't be with the Titans... Slade knows too much about me... he could use me to hurt them-"

"I... I won't let him, Terra..." Sanza dropped his mask to the ground and reached up, touching Terra's face with his hand... several tears from her eye landed on it, and he brushed them away before placing his hand back on her face. "...what am I saying... it happened this time, and I couldn't-"

"You stopped it, Sanza... you got that chip out of me just in time... don't feel bad, this isn't your fault, it's mine..."

"It's not your fault, Terra..."

Sanza's voice began to break as he spoke, his words lined with guilt... he'd promised to protect Terra, but Slade had still gotten to her... and he'd hurt her so badly that she didn't want to be a hero anymore.

"Here," said Sanza, reaching out with a trembling hand to give Terra her communicator. "In case... in case you decide to-"

"I don't need it," she replied, pushing it back toward Sanza and turning her head away, trying to hide her tears from him so that he wouldn't feel any worse. "You take it... you fight with them... you stop the Brotherhood of Evil... and Slade..."

She then turned and began to walk away, but stopped when Sanza gently grabbed her arm.

"...what are you going to do...?"

"I'm going to get my life straightened out, Sanza, I'm going to think about what I'm going to do next... all I know is that... I won't be a Teen Titan. Not anymore."

"...what about us?"

Terra turned back toward Sanza, whose eyes clearly displayed the intense sadness that he was feeling, not just because he thought he'd failed Terra, but because he might never see her again... she had to reassure him that that wasn't the case. Even though she still felt terrible guilt for what she'd almost done, seeing Sanza brought her a bit of happiness... and she didn't want that to go away.

"Sanza, I still love you... and I still want to be with you. And... now that I'm not with the Titans, you won't have to worry about fighting me anymore, right? You can still be a thief if you want... I won't judge you."

"Right now I'm just worried about taking out Slade," said Sanza, not thinking even for a moment about resuming his criminal career... right now, all he cared about was Terra. "Please... please reconsider."

"...I'm going to go now, Sanza... I need to think for a while. Please don't try to follow me."

And then, she turned and walked away... but Sanza still wasn't done talking.

"You promise that we're still together?"

Terra turned back toward Sanza and smiled warmly at him, brushing away her tears and walking back toward him... then kissing him deeply on the lips, knowing it'd be the last kiss the two would share for quite some time. After several seconds, she parted from Sanza, giving him one last smile before turning away.

"I promise."

And just like that, Terra was gone, leaving Sanza alone in the middle of the street with the moon and the streetlights shining down on him. He walked over to the sidewalk and sat down, putting his head in his hands and letting out a long, regretful sigh.

"_I failed her... just like I failed Cleo..."_

Sanza's entire body trembled as he let the tears come... there weren't many, but without anyone else around to see him cry, he could show as much emotion as he wanted... he stomped down on the pavement and let out a loud, angry yell.

Standing nearby, watching in silence from a rooftop just across the street, was Madame Rouge. She'd seen the entire spectacle unfold, from Slade's activation of the chip, to its removal from Terra's body, and her subsequent resignation from the team. She'd followed Sanza and Terra down the street, planning to ambush the two of them if Sanza had managed to convince Terra to stay... but now, she simply decided to keep observing. With Terra off the team, it may just be possible for Slade to convince Sanza to become his apprentice... but Rouge still had her doubts.

"_I must admit... I am impressed, Slade... but I still do not trust you. This girl was not able to defeat the Teen Titans... the task of destroying them will now likely fall into the Brotherhood's hands... and if you cannot convince this boy to be your apprentice, I will enjoy crushing him myself."_

O-O-O

Back in the main room of Titans Tower, Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg had returned to find several new heroes inside their home... along with Speedy, Aqualad, Bumblebee, and a couple of flower pots.

After explaining the situation behind Terra's departure, and after Raven transformed Mas y Menos back to normal, introductions were made and a celebratory dinner was prepared... but without Terra, there was a somber mood behind the entire evening.

The heroes waited all night for either Terra or Red X to return... neither did, and by midnight, most of the heroes had decided to hit the hay, leaving only the five original members of Titans West in the main room to discuss everything that had happened.

"Y'know, with Argent, Herald, Bushido, and Hotspot here, and more heroes coming tomorrow, we don't even need Terra to stop the Brotherhood of Evil!" said Cyborg, trying as best as he could to lighten the mood. It wasn't working.

"That's not the point," said Robin solemnly. "Terra's our friend. We were just starting to get used to having her around again, but..."

"Then she left," continued Beast Boy, "and definitely not on the best of terms. Remember what happened the last time she left?"

Beast Boy let out a long, heavy sigh. What was he talking about? Of course Terra wasn't going to betray the team... not again, not when she felt so bad after doing it before... but all alone in the big bad world, Terra was vulnerable to attack... not just from the Brotherhood of Evil, but from Slade as well, who was well-known for preying on people in their time of distress.

"Well... no matter what happens to Terra, we still have to think about protecting the city and stopping the Brotherhood of Evil," said Raven, standing up from the couch and making her way over to the elevator. "And that means that we have to get our rest... tomorrow's a big day."

"I agree with Raven, we need to be up bright and early so that we can get as much training in as possible." Robin started to get up as well, but he looked over to the couch and could see Beast Boy, his head resting on his hands... and the changeling looked as if he was about to cry. "Beast Boy..."

"Beast Boy, do not worry," said Starfire, floating over to her despairing friend and wrapping her arms around him in a warm, gentle hug. "Terra will be safe... I know that she will come back..."

But it wasn't just Terra, it was a growing list of people... Terra was just the icing on the cake, adding to the sadness that Beast Boy already felt.

"First the Doom Patrol, then Terra... all my friends are disappearing right and left," said Beast Boy, letting out a sigh as he gently pulled away from Starfire's embrace. "And did anyone see Sanza after-"

There was a knock at the door, drawing the Titans' attention to the front of the room.

"Terra!" Beast Boy shouted excitedly, getting up and running over to the door. It slid open, and the changeling's eyes widened in shock... then drooped in disappointment. It wasn't Terra, it was... "oh, you. Red X."

"I thought you'd be a bit happier to see me, kid," said Red X, looking past Beast Boy and over at the other Titans, who were all staring at him with highly varied expressions on their faces. "Well, at least some of you are happy to see me..."

"What did Terra say?" asked Robin curiously, hoping that X had somehow convinced the Titan to return to the team. He hadn't.

"She's not coming back, she's got a lot to think about, but... as long as Slade and the Brotherhood are working together, I'm ready to take _all _of them down... I'll be here right after school tomorrow to train with you guys. I'd skip school, but... mom would probably rip my balls off, so..."

"Yeah, you should probably go to school," replied Robin, not wanting to contribute to the delinquency of a minor, though at the same time wanting X to get in as much training time as possible... a big part of Robin was silently begging for the thief to skip. "You be here when you can."

"Oh, and you don't need to call me on the phone anymore," said the thief, holding up what had once been Terra's communicator. "Use this... Terra gave it to me, and I'm gonna use it. No, that doesn't mean I want to be a Teen Titan... but until Slade goes down, you guys are stuck with me."

"Good to still have you on board, X," said Robin, a smile on his face.

"Yes... it is wonderful to know that you are still willing to assist us..." continued Starfire, glad to receive the first good news of the entire evening.

Terra, at least for the moment, was gone... but Red X was still determined to the cause, and now had a new reason to want to fight the Brotherhood of Evil... and especially Slade. He'd promised Terra that he could protect her... and his failure had led to her departure from the team. So now, X had a new mission... eliminate Slade so that he would never, ever be able to hurt Terra again.

It was a mission that Red X was willing to devote his entire being to accomplish.

O-O-O

So, Terra's out, and X is in... still not a Titan, but as committed to stopping Slade as they are, and possibly more! But we've already seen how dangerous the Brotherhood of Evil can be, and with more heroes still outside the safety of the Tower, can the Titans possibly protect them all? And will Jump City fall into the hands of good, or evil? Find out next chapter!


	10. The First Week Of The Rest Of Your Life

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Jinx and her H.I.V.E. companions strolled down the sidewalk, taking in the sights and sounds of Jump City's morning bustle. The rising sun was shining in the sky, beaming down light upon the pink-haired villainess and her cohorts as they planned their mayhem for the rest of the day.

"Ahhh... smell that fresh morning air... it puts me in such a wonderful mood, I almost don't _want _to go and pummel any heroes today," commented Jinx, a wide smile on her face. "But you guys heard the Brain... he gave us orders to bring in any new heroes that show up, dead or alive..."

The H.I.V.E. had been given its marching orders due to the fact that the rest of the young heroes that the Titans had summoned were coming into the city that day... and they were to be stopped before they could reach Titans Tower, or even call for help.

"So uh... anyone in particular we're supposed to be going after?" asked Mammoth, scratching his head and wondering just whose face he'd be getting to smash in soon. "Is it one hero, or like a team of them?"

"One," said Jinx, taking out a picture that Madame Rouge had given her. Printed on the picture was the face of a teenaged redhead in a bright, yellow mask... a rather handsome face, at least in Jinx's opinion. But despite Jinx's mini-crush, she knew she had a job to do... Rouge had given her this mission personally. "His name's Kid Flash... he's supposed to be _really _quick, so be on your toes."

"I don't care how quick he is, I'm not letting some redheaded dweeboid get the best of me!" shouted Gizmo, who was currently working on a small, silvery piece of technology, using one hand to hold it still while using his other hand to screw something on the device into place. "If he shows up, I'm gonna waste him!"

As the H.I.V.E. continued to walk down the street, Jinx spotted a nearby vendor, pushing a hot dog cart down the street.

"Mmm... hot dogs," said See-More, who'd also spotted the cart. Jinx looked back and gave him a strange look, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Hot dogs for breakfast? I'm hungry too, See-More, but I have standards... I prefer to start my day off with a nice glass of orange juice and a big plate of-"

"HOT DOGS!!!" screamed Mammoth, running at top speed toward the vendor and his cart. Jinx let out a quiet sigh, bowing her head into her hands as the rest of her teammates followed Mammoth toward the cart and began threatening the vendor, who quickly abandoned his cart and allowed the H.I.V.E. members to do what they wanted with the contents. As Mammoth prepared to gorge himself on the large stack of three dozen hot dogs that he was able to carry in his arms, he suddenly found himself empty handed... along with the other four male members of the H.I.V.E., who found their lone hot dogs pilfered as well. None of them had seen what had happened except for Jinx, who was able to spot a bright yellow blur whiz past her teammates just before their hot dogs vanished.

"Okay, I _know _you guys can't eat that fast... not even _you_, Mammoth," said Jinx, looking to her left, and then to her right, but unable to see who had just robbed her teammates of their breakfast. _"What the hell is going on here?!"_

"Grrr... I had 'em in my hands, then... then they were gone..." cried Mammoth, lamenting the loss of his breakfast.

"The cart's gone too!" shouted Gizmo, angrily tossing the device he was working on to the ground and jumping up and down on it several times, shouting an unintelligible stream of obscenities.

_"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this..." _thought Jinx, walking off down the street in the direction she'd seen the vendor run off a minute earlier. Sure enough, after a bit of walking, she found the still-shaken hot dog vendor standing near a lamp post, his cart being returned to him by a young, red-haired man in a yellow costume... the exact same person she'd seen in the picture. _"Bingo..."_

"Here's your hot dog cart, sir," said Kid Flash, smiling as he presented the reclaimed cart to its owner. "Not a single one of your hot dogs eaten, either."

"Oh, bless you, young man..." said the vendor, reaching into the cart's cash bin and pulling out a large wad of bills. "Here... a reward for-"

"I think a good deed is its own reward," replied Kid Flash, "though I am kinda hungry... could you give me one jumbo dog with everything?"

As the vendor graciously nodded and began fixing Kid Flash's reward hot dog, Jinx walked over and accosted the young superhero, a rather annoyed look on her face.

"Hey, you!" shouted Jinx, looking right up into Kid Flash's eyes, ignoring, for the moment, his boyish good looks. "You're the guy who took my friends' breakfast, aren't you?"

The young superhero got his first good look at the pink-haired, grey-skinned girl standing before him... she was cute, even when she was angry... though at the moment, her villainous affiliations were a bit of a turn-off.

"Well now... you must be the leader of the group of criminals that took this nice man's hot dog cart," said Kid Flash, a casual smile on his face as he began to turn on the charm. "Maybe you should apologize."

"...apologize? _The nerve... _YOU apologize, you're the one who stole all those hotdogs from my teammates! They stole this cart fair and square..."

"...do you realize what you're saying?" replied Kid Flash, still smiling as he took the fully-loaded hot dog from the vendor, who gave the young hero a grateful wave as he slowly rolled his cart down the sidewalk. "Now, I _know _you're smarter than that... I mean, you're their leader, so you must be the brains of the whole outfit, right?"

Jinx blinked her eyes several times, not believing what she was hearing. First this guy steals her friends' breakfast, then he has the nerve... the _nerve _to compliment her? Was this some kind of a joke?

"...listen, you. I've been given orders to take you in, dead or alive... now I'd _much _rather prefer it be alive, since killing you would be WAY too messy, but-"

"If you wanna take me in to anybody, you'll have to catch me first," said Kid Flash, taking a big bite of his hot dog before handing the rest of it to Jinx, and continuing to talk to her with his mouth full. "And since I'm so fast, you're gonna need a lot of energy to catch me, so... you'd better eat the rest of that. Bye!"

And just like that, Kid Flash was gone, disappearing down the sidewalk and around the corner just as fast as he'd shown up in the first place. Jinx stood silent for several seconds, blinking her eyes with a mixture of shock and annoyance... then, she clenched her teeth angrily, her fingers clenching tightly around the half-eaten hot dog in her hand and spraying ketchup, mustard, onions, and relish all over her arm, her chest, and her face. She let out a loud, frustrated scream, then turned around and stormed back down the sidewalk to rejoin her teammates.

_"I swear I'm gonna get him, if it's the last thing I ever do..."_

O-O-O

Though it was a wonderful morning for many of Jump City's residents, it had been a terrible night for Terra, who had spent the last twelve hours in the desert just outside the city, sleeping on the floor of the cave that she once called home.

She still had her flashlight, as well as the dusty old sleeping bag she used to sleep on, though she'd had to air it out before she could use it, because in the year since it had last been used, hundreds of spiders had made their home within its comfortable fabric folds.

It was a cold, dark, scary existence... but not nearly as scary as the gut-wrenching fear that she faced had she decided to stay with the Titans... a fear of betraying and hurting them once again, a fear that had been so strong that it drove her away, and now, it drove her to start a brand new life, one without her powers, or her friends... save for Sanza, whom, despite everything that had happened, she desperately wanted to keep in her life. He was the only one who would know where she was staying... because as scared as she was of hurting him as well, her love for him overwhelmed even that. Without Sanza, Terra knew she wouldn't make it in whatever new life she started... so he would be the only part of her old life that she allowed to remain.

She emerged from the cave around noon, stretching her arms and letting out a loud, exhausted yawn. When she gazed out across the desert and saw the skyline of Jump City in the distance, she immediately felt a twinge of sadness in her heart... she looked at the shimmering visage of Titans Tower and bowed her head, remembering her old life and mourning the friends whom she had hurt so terribly.

_"Come on, Terra... you can't think about them now, today is the first day of your new life... a life without your powers, without the Titans... without Slade."_

She could only hope that whatever she decided to do, that Slade wouldn't follow her... that if she wasn't fighting with the Titans, she was useless to him, and that hopefully, he would move on.

_"I'll never hurt them again, Slade... so you can just forget it."_

Terra began the long trek toward Jump City... not toward Titans Tower, but instead, in the direction of the city's north side... there was a school there, a special school that she'd seen once when traveling through the city... and after reading up on it, decided that it would be her safety net, something to fall back on should she ever leave the team. A school that required very little documentation, and even waived its enrollment fee for many of its students, provided they score highly on a difficult entrance exam.

_"Murakami High School," _Terra thought to herself, trying to recall everything she knew so that she would have a chance to pass the exam and be accepted. _"Where my new, normal life will begin..."_

O-O-O

Meanwhile, at an entirely different high school, Sanza was sitting in gym class, grateful to have a chance to take out his frustrations with some physical activity.

He'd been agonizing over what had happened to Terra ever since the previous night... he'd barely been able to sleep, and in first period, it was impossible for him to concentrate on his studies. Now, his class was playing wiffle ball, and he was up to bat... staring across the gym at someone very familiar.

_"Oh no... not him..." _Standing on top of the bright orange piece of plastic that had been laid down on the gym floor to represent the pitcher's mound was Cleo, who had volunteered to pitch that day, without realizing that pitching would force her to come face-to-face with Sanza... someone she wanted to have as little contact with as possible considering their history together. "...Sanza..."

_"Cleo..." _Sanza was just as uneasy about facing Cleo as she was about facing him, and thinking of Cleo made him think of Terra... and how he'd failed to protect them both. His fingers began to tremble, and the plastic bat almost slipped out of his hands... but he kept his grip and took a quick practice swing, trying to pay as little attention to his former friend as possible.

Cleo considered giving the ball to another member of her team, but she quickly decided against it, letting out a sigh and bowing her head.

"Cleo... you okay...?" asked Steve, who'd come across from his position at third base after Cleo took nearly fifteen seconds without throwing the ball. "Should I, um..."

"It's fine," she whispered, choking back tears as she turned back toward Sanza and prepared to throw the ball to him. _"I just need to get this over with..."_

She threw the ball, an underhanded toss that would be easy to hit... as was the norm for a gym class wiffle ball game. Sanza just stared at the ball as it crossed the plate, letting it go for an easy strike.

"Strike one," called the gym teacher, watching the action from a short distance away. Cleo blinked her eyes for a moment, shaking her head and looking up at Sanza, whose eyes were wide open, staring straight forward in a nervous, petrified fashion.

_"This is so awkward..." _thought Sanza, who couldn't stop looking at Cleo as she prepared to throw her second pitch. _"I... I should say something, she looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown up there..."_

_"Stop looking at me... stop looking at me... _grrr..." Unable to take the tension anymore, Cleo stepped forward and took her second pitch... but unlike the slow, underhanded first, Cleo's second throw was a blistering fastball straight down the center of home plate. The holes in the wiffle ball gave it a great deal of air resistance, but Cleo, her strength bolstered by her anger, was able to throw the ball at least fifty miles an hour. Several of her classmates gasped in shock, while the gym teacher quickly reminded Cleo to throw underhanded, and awarded Sanza 'ball one'.

"Cleo..." Sanza whispered to himself, seeing in his ex-girlfriend's face just how much pain she still felt about what had happened to her... a pain that would likely stay with her as long as she lived. _"I'm so sorry..."_

He gripped the bat as tightly as he could, his eyes narrowing as his own rage began to swell to the surface... he was mad at himself for letting Cleo and Terra get hurt, and just as mad at the people who had hurt them. He stared straight forward, looking past Cleo and up to the row of bleachers behind the balcony on the other side of the gym.

As this was going on, Steve continued to watch from third base, wondering what could possibly be making Cleo and his friend so tense... Cleo had been this way for quite some time, but now Sanza...? Now he was worried about both of them, but especially Cleo... whose personality had done a complete 180 in the month since she had been raped. Of course, Steve couldn't have possibly known _that_... but he definitely knew that something was up.

_"Sanza, what do _you _have to be so angry about?" _thought Cleo, gripping the wiffle ball in her hand tightly and lobbing it across the plate, returning to the same, underhanded throw which she'd used the first time. _"You weren't the one who was-"_

The sound of Sanza's bat connecting with the ball reverberated through the gym, a violent burst that was about as loud as the sound of plastic on plastic could get. As soon as the ball had been hit, everyone in the gym knew it was going into the bleachers... it rocketed upward and outward until it hit the wall at the other side of the gym and bounced off, landing in the sixth row from the top and rolling underneath the bleachers entirely. It was a home run that enabled Sanza and his teammates on first and second to score... but Sanza didn't look very happy as he rounded the bases, and gave only half-hearted high fives to his teammates as he crossed home plate. He looked back at Cleo, who was sighing and tossing the ball up and down, catching it and tossing it up again, not even giving Sanza a glance. She was just glad that she didn't have to look at him anymore... at least until the next time he came up to bat.

_"I hope Terra's feeling better than that right now..." _thought Sanza, who could only imagine what the girl he loved could be doing right at that moment. Without Titans Tower, she was effectively homeless... though she did tell him exactly where to find the cave that she was now living in. _"I'll visit her right after school..."_

O-O-O

No matter how many copies of Billy Numerous that Pantha threw across the street, more just seemed to come out of the woodwork... and it was soon clear that if something wasn't done soon, the exceptionally strong female wrestler would begin to tire out.

"This is endless..." Pantha groaned to herself, knocking two Billies down with a shoulder charge before being subjected to five more attempting to tackle her to the ground. The original Billy Numerous sat on a nearby lamppost, laughing hysterically as he watched the powerful Pantha struggle with his dozens and dozens of clones.

"No matter how hard you try, you'll never keep Billy Numerous down!" Billy taunted, watching as Pantha threw off three of his copies, only to be brought down and pinned by the two that still remained, joined by six more. "I'll count the pinfall now! One... two..."

An explosive X hit Billy Numerous in the back, throwing him off the lamppost and sending him face-first to the street below.

"You just made a big mistake," said Red X, charging down the sidewalk with his palms aglow. "Trying to start something right after I get out of school... you're gonna pay for ruining my downtime!"

More Xs flew Billy Numerous' way, causing the hillbilly criminal to roll forward, dodging the Xs, but also losing his focus on the battle with Pantha... who was beginning to get out from under all of those clones.

"Get off me... I WILL CRUSH YOU!" screamed Pantha, throwing off all eight clones in one furious burst of strength. The clones flew up in the air, landing on trees, cars, buildings... anything nearby, but with the same result: all of them were knocked unconscious on impact. The original Billy now found himself standing between X and Pantha... and too drained from making clones to even out the numbers.

"Aw... c'mon, two on one's not fair!"

X looked down at Billy, then back up at Pantha... he gave her a nod, and she brought her fist down on top of Billy's head, knocking him out and causing his clones to be pulled back into his body.

"Thanks for the help," said Pantha, smiling much more warmly than what would normally be expected from someone with such an intimidating figure. "Are you one of the Teen Titans?"

"No, but I'm here to help," replied the thief, who wanted to keep the introductions short... after all, he still had to visit Terra later on. "I'm Red X, and you're...?"

"Pantha," she replied, reaching out to shake Red X's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

As X accepted Pantha's strong handshake, he couldn't help but notice her accent... much stronger than his mother's, and much, _much _stronger than his own, even without the slight modulation afforded by his mask. She was of Mexican heritage, just like himself... though unlike him, Pantha had likely been born there.

"I'm glad you got here when you did... I probably could have handled him on my own, but-"

"It's no problem," said Red X, though he was beginning to get more and more anxious with every passing second... the trip to Terra's cave was a fairly long one, he wanted to get there as quickly as he could. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

The Titan communicator clipped to X's waist began to ring... he took it out and opened it up to see Robin's face on the other hand.

"X, we need you on the east side of the city... another one of the new heroes is being attacked, but we're dealing with a bank robbery, so..."

"I'll be right there," replied the thief, sighing loudly as he closed the communicator and turned to Pantha. "I know I shouldn't be asking this, but... can you go save the new hero? I... kind of have somewhere I need to be."

Pantha was a bit surprised to see her new ally apparently shirking his duty... but she was always ready for a fight, even if she was a bit worn out at the moment from dealing with Billy Numerous. Without saying a word, she nodded, turning away from Red X and running down the street toward the east side of the city.

_"Glad she was able to cover for me..." _thought Red X, who immediately started down his own path, running out of the city and heading for the desert. _"Terra needs to see a friendly face right now after all she's been through... and besides, my battle is with Slade..."_

O-O-O

"Billy Numerous, report in! Billy... Billy...?! Ugh..." Letting out an exasperated sigh, Jinx angrily re-clipped a small communication device to her waist... the device was similar to the T-Coms used by the Titans, with a H.I.V.E. insignia on the front instead of a T. They'd been crafted by Gizmo to allow better communication amongst the team members during their recent missions, but they'd mostly been used for prank calls amongst the rather immature team members, causing Jinx to simply shut hers off when she wasn't using it. _"My teammates are a bunch of failures..."_

The pink-haired girl sat by herself in the park, awaiting any reports from her teammates, while at the same time keeping a lookout for Kid Flash should he decide to show up. So far, he hadn't... which left Jinx practically bored out of her mind.

"Ugh... besides Kid Wykkyd, and occasionally See-More, none of my teammates even care about the mission anymore... it's just a random crime here, maybe painting some graffiti on the subway every once in a while... don't they know that for the first time, we actually have a chance to do something _really _important?!"

It wasn't very often that Jinx talked to herself, and it was even _less _often that there was someone there to listen... so when a beautiful pink flower suddenly dropped down in Jinx's lap, she let out a frightened gasp, followed by a quiet scream. She whipped her head around, but saw no one behind the bench... then looked forward again. No one.

"What the... whoever you are, come out and-"

"You know, your teammates _were _actually trying to accomplish the mission... they attacked me a few minutes ago, but I kicked their butts. They're lying in a heap at the park entrance... I wonder why you weren't with them?"

That voice... Jinx recognized it instantly, and looked to her right... to see Kid Flash sitting next to her on the park bench, a smile on his face.

"This time I'm catching you..."

Jinx lunged forward, only to have Kid Flash leap out of his seat, standing next to the bench as Jinx was now laid out on top of it, flat on her face.

"You were _close _that time...!"

With a loud cry of frustration, Jinx got up from the bench and dove at Kid Flash... but he was too quick for her, and he disappeared before she could even take a single step... leaving behind only the flower that he'd dropped into her lap. Jinx turned around and picked up the flower, which had fallen onto the bench when she'd come after Kid Flash. The petals matched the color of her hair... in fact, they matched _perfectly_.

_"Who does he think I am? Some kind of girly girl who he can just charm into not trying to catch him? Well, he's got another thing coming..."_

But instead of throwing the flower away, Jinx placed it gently into her pocket before heading back to the entrance of the park to revive her teammates.

O-O-O

The sun was setting by the time Red X made his way back into the city. He'd spoken with Terra for nearly an hour, and she seemed just as sad as when he'd left her the previous evening... but she did tell him all about the Murakami School entrance exam she took that day. She'd passed with flying colors... which meant that she would be accepted into the school. In fact, she'd be able to start her classes the very next day... and she was rather happy to do so.

All of X's attempts to get Terra to rejoin the team had been rebuked, and after the first three tries, he stopped asking... he could see that it was making her uncomfortable. The rest of the conversation centered around lighter banter, much like what they'd talked about on their date in the restaurant two nights before... basically, anything that X could say to make Terra forget about what Slade had done to her.

But those memories were still there, so terribly vivid... and X could sense the sadness and fear in Terra's voice with each word she spoke. Having her body once again controlled by Slade, being forced to attack her dearest friends... it was Terra's worst nightmare come true, and had it not been for X's removal of the chip from her body, she'd still be under Slade's control... and the Titans would likely be dead.

But through all of that, there was still one thing that hadn't changed... Terra still loved Sanza, and still trusted him to protect her, even though he'd failed to foresee Slade's plan to retake control of Terra's body. That was what separated Cleo from Terra... while Cleo blamed Sanza for everything that had happened once she knew the truth of his identity, Terra's faith in Sanza hadn't been shaken even a tiny bit... and through it all, she still loved him.

That's why Red X knew that he had to protect Terra from Slade, no matter what... and just as he re-entered the downtown area of the city, his communicator began to ring. He took it out and opened it up, and once again, Robin was calling him.

"Where were you earlier? Pantha had a lot of trouble saving Thunder and Lightning from Cinderblock and Overload, I thought you were going to go help them out!"

"She took care of it, didn't she? Besides, you know where I was... I had to go visit Terra," X replied, unapologetic for any of his actions. "If you called just to yell at me-"

"Actually, there's another hero who needs help. Hurry down to the docks, there's a girl named Kole who's in serious trouble!"

This time, there was nothing stopping Red X from helping out... and he did feel a _bit _guilty for letting Pantha take on two dangerous villains all by herself, though he didn't even begin to show it. Whoever was attacking this Kole, X was sure he could handle it.

"All right, I've got it... I'll bring her over to the Tower right away."

"...be careful," Robin admonished before X could close the communicator. "I hate to send you over by yourself, but-"

"I told you, I can handle it. Goodbye, Robin."

O-O-O

Pier 6 at Jump City Harbor was completely deserted... it had been for quite some time, after being the site of what was a fierce battle between the villainous magician Mumbo and the young, pink-haired heroine Kole... who, along with her faithful caveman friend Gnarrk, had been able to defend themselves for quite some time.

But after one of Mumbo's spells transformed Gnarrk into a harmless action figure, Kole had been left defenseless, afraid to take on her diamond form because she knew that it would still leave her susceptible to her opponent's magic.

Now, Mumbo had Kole backed up against the edge of the pier, with a twenty-foot drop into the choppy waters below being her only alternative to having to face what would likely be a fatal attack.

"Don't be scared, kid... it should be an _honor _to be chosen as an assistant to the Amazing Mumbo!"

"The only honor I'm giving you is the honor of getting your butt kicked," threatened Kole, though her trembling voice betrayed the intense fear that she was currently feeling, knowing that she was about to be zapped into oblivion. _"I just hope one of the Titans hurries up and gets here... or I'm toast!"_

Mumbo raised his wand, the tip glowing brightly as he prepared to send a powerful magic spell Kole's way.

"Abracapresto!" chanted the magician, firing a bolt of white lightning that Kole was just barely able to duck, causing the bolt to crash harmlessly against the waves. Undaunted, Mumbo raised his wand again, while Kole curled up into a trembling ball, awaiting her fate. "Presto-"

A gloved hand grabbed the tip of Mumbo's wand, and with a strong yank, ripped the wand right out of the blue magician's hand. With an angry yell, Mumbo turned around... only to come face-to-face with Red X, his scariest opponent, and definitely not someone he wanted to meet in a dark alley... or even on a moonlit pier.

"Hey there, uh... wanna see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?"

"No, I just want to see you go away," said Red X, punching Mumbo squarely in the nose and knocking him off the side of the pier and into the waters below. Mumbo let out a loud scream as he was carried by the tide into an open sewer pipe and washed away. This left X and Kole as the only two people left standing on the pier, and the pink-haired girl quickly stood up, seeing that she was finally safe... though not recognizing Red X from any of the stories that _she'd _ever been told about the Teen Titans.

"Um... thank you," said Kole softly, walking over to Red X with a hint of trepidation. When she saw that X had Mumbo's wand in his hand, she pointed over to Gnarrk, who was lying motionless in front of a nearby warehouse, his body still transformed into an action figure. "Could you change him back for me? He's sort of my friend..."

"Oh..." X turned away from Kole and walked over to Gnarrk, looking down at the twelve-inch plastic caveman that was apparently Kole's partner. "Wow... Mumbo sure did a number on him... shrunk him down, turned him plastic, and made him into an ugly caveman, too."

"Actually, Gnarrk _is _a caveman... and he's not ugly!" shouted Kole, angrily placing her hands on her hips. "He's really very nice... could you _please _change him back now?"

Upon hearing that Gnarrk really _was _a caveman, X became a bit wary of reviving him... thinking that perhaps his remark wouldn't go over well once Gnarrk was back to normal. Taking a couple of steps back, X pointed the wand at Gnarrk and tried to make it de-activate the spell.

"Uh... presto reverso?"

A bright beam of magic shot out from the tip of the wand, hitting Gnarrk and instantly returning him to his normal state. He stood up and looked down at Red X, letting out a loud, angry yell before raising his club above the thief's head. Just as X prepared to roll out of the way, Kole interposed herself between the two, placing out her hands and waving repeatedly.

"It's okay, Gnarrk, he saved us... he won't say anything bad to you anymore, okay?"

Kole gave X another angry look before returning her gaze to Gnarrk, who stood down, lowering his club and allowing his arms to hang at his sides. Breathing a sigh of relief, X calmly placed his hand on Kole's shoulder, getting her to turn around and face him.

"Look, I'm sorry about the 'ugly' remark... it's just... it's not every day you meet a real life caveman, you know?"

"Oh... well, Gnarrk and I don't usually see very many people... we live by ourselves in the northern tundra, but... well, when we got the call from Bumblebee that this city needed help, we decided to show up and meet her and the other Titans at their Tower. On the way there, we... sort of got attacked. Thanks for the save, by the way."

"Don't mention it, I've dealt with that guy before..."

Now that he'd completed his mission, X wanted to get home as soon as possible... because of his numerous delays, he'd been unable to visit Titans Tower to train... but he figured that the fights he'd been in that day were certainly all the training he needed, and besides, the Titans had been outside the Tower for most of the day anyway.

_"Tomorrow I'll just ask mom to borrow the car... that way, I can get to the desert to visit Terra, then get right to Titans Tower to train... unless mom needs the car for work, then I'd just have to visit Terra after she gets out of school... well, unless her school gets out before mine, then-"_

"Um... hello? I was trying to tell you that Gnarrk and I could get back to the Tower on our own," Kole said, interrupting X's train of thought, "but... because there are so many heroes in the Tower now, we can't stay there. Robin told me that he thought you might be able to find a place for us."

"...what?!" _This _was certainly an unexpected surprise, and at the mention of having to find a place for Kole to stay, the thief did a double-take. _"How the hell would I know where a good place is for Kole to stay? She's not staying at _my _place, that's for sure..."_

"Well, he said that since you lived near a bunch of apartment buildings, you might be able to ask someone if Gnarrk and I can stay in one of them..."

It was then that Kole produced a large wad of cash... nearly a thousand dollars in $20s, $50s, and $100s.

"We have money..."

"Where'd you get _that_?" X remarked, glancing with wide eyes at the wad of cash that Kole was now holding up to him.

"Robin wired it to us before we came to the city..."

_"Damn... no wonder they have so much neat stuff at the Tower... but that begs the question, where does _Robin _get all that money?"_

With too many questions now circling in his head, the thief could barely keep himself from getting a headache, let alone tell Kole where to get a good deal on an apartment. He did know one thing, the apartment just below the two floors where he and his family lived was still vacant, and the landlord was renting it out fairly cheaply... the money that Kole had with her would easily cover a month's rent. While he didn't like the thought of living right above a caveman, at least Kole and Gnarrk probably be at the Tower most of the time, only returning home to sleep, and perhaps to eat.

"All right, after you get done with whatever you have to do at the Tower, come back to my place and I'll get you set up... one thing, is Gnarrk quiet?"

Kole looked up at her caveman friend, smiling innocently.

"Gnarrk, do you promise to be quiet while we're living in Jump City?"

Gnarrk let out a grunt, nodding his head and giving Kole a thumbs-up. She giggled and looked back over at Red X, giving him a similar thumbs-up.

"Great..." said the thief, half-relieved, half-sarcastic. "I'll see you later, then."

As he, Kole, and Gnarrk went their separate ways, X couldn't help but wonder what else Robin had told Kole about him.

_"He told her where I live, I hope he didn't tell her my real name, too... oh well, I'll probably end up telling her when she shows up at the apartment."_

Red X could only hope that Kole and Gnarrk would be the _last _people to find out his real identity... because the more people there were that knew who he was, the more trouble he seemed to get into... and that trouble wasn't just limited to him.

_"At least Kole and Gnarrk can probably defend themselves _way _better than my mom and sister can."_

O-O-O

Though Sanza wanted to get to sleep, he stayed up and waited for Kole and Gnarrk to return. In the meantime, he explained the situation to his mother, who was a bit annoyed at first, mostly because the apartment's landlord lived several miles away, and it was her that would have to drive over and ask him for the keys, though Sanza offered to do it himself.

Later that night, and about an hour after Maria returned, Kole and Gnarrk showed up at the Salazars' door, having been given their address by Robin before coming over. Sanza had told Maria all about Gnarrk, so she didn't look the least bit surprised to see a large caveman standing behind the pink-haired girl who had knocked on her door.

"You must be Kole... and um... Gnarrk," said Maria. The delay hadn't come from surprise, but from the slight bit of trepidation with which Maria pronounced the caveman's name. "That is your name, right? Gnarrk? Am I saying it right?"

Gnarrk smiled and nodded his head, while Kole introduced herself politely.

"He's Gnarrk, I'm Kole... thank you so much for letting the two of us stay with you," said Kole.

"Well, you'll be staying downstairs," replied Maria, smiling as she handed the keys to the pink-haired visitor. "It's not connected like this floor and the one upstairs are, but you can use the fire escape to come up any time you want... I mean, if you want anything to eat."

"Oh... well, I'm used to having Gnarrk cook for both of us, but... well, thank you, we could try out some of your cooking while we're here, is that okay, Gnarrk?"

The caveman nodded once again, blushing slightly as he looked at Maria, who noticed Gnarrk's blushing and giggled, half-amused, half-flattered... she'd seen a lot of strange things in her life, especially the last year, and though a caveman with a crush on her was definitely one of the strangest, Maria still knew that she could trust both of the strange new visitors.

"Also, how old are you?"

"Oh... well, I just turned thirteen last month," said Kole, wondering exactly why Maria had asked her such a question.

"My twelve-year-old daughter would _love _you, I'm sure," replied Maria. "So if you want to come over and play with her-"

"That would be awesome!" Kole said happily, pleasantly surprised by Maria's kindness. "I'll come over tomorrow, okay?"

Maria talked with Kole for the next minute, before finally, the pink-haired superheroine and her caveman partner said their goodbyes and headed downstairs to the first floor apartment. After they left, Maria walked back into the living room where Sanza was sitting. He was a bit worried that his mother would scold him for inviting Kole and Gnarrk to stay in the apartment below, but instead, Maria gave him a warm smile, sitting down on the couch nearby and praising her son for his hospitality.

"That was very kind of you to offer them the apartment below us," said Maria. "I'm very proud of you."

"...really?"

"It's good to see that you're using your suit to help the city again... and I'm a bit less worried now that I know how many people will be helping you in your fight."

Maria seemed as proud of Sanza as she had been since she'd first found out that he was Red X in the first place... and she'd gone from anger, both with Sanza's stealing and because he had put his sister Maddy in danger, from pride and relief that her son was trying to help others, not just himself or his family, but all of Jump City... and the world as well.

"And by the way... I said a prayer for Terra last night," Maria continued, reaching out and gently taking her son's hand. "After you told me what Slade did... I just hope she's able to find peace no matter what she decides to do with her powers."

Sanza let out a long, sad sigh, looking away from Maria and down towards the floor. He too had been praying for Terra, but all of his prayers had been for her to rejoin the team, to help the Titans in their fight... and that's what he would be praying for again. What he wanted for Terra more than anything else in the world was for her to gain confidence in herself again, and the only way she could do that was by helping the Titans and Red X in their fight to save the city.

_"She has to know that she can use her powers for good... but if she doesn't use them at all, she won't _ever _get her confidence back..."_

"And I'm going to keep praying for you too, Sanza," said Maria, getting off of the couch and walking over to the chair where her son was seated, kneeling down next to him and looking up into his eyes. "Please... please be safe..."

"Thanks, mom," was all that Sanza could say, as his mind was still clouded by thoughts of Terra, going through the motions at that new school she just got into. _"Right now, the only thing that matters to me is Terra..."_

After giving Sanza one last hug for the night, Maria walked to her bedroom, and Sanza followed shortly after, going up to his room and lying down in his bed. He stared up at his ceiling, unable to get Terra out of his mind... and he was rewarded with another mostly restless night.

O-O-O

The rest of the week consisted mostly of fighting... fighting between the Brotherhood of Evil's coalition of villains and the heroes who had been assembled to stop them. As the Brotherhood knew that the Titans would be prepared for a single strike right away, the villains were deployed in teams throughout the city, making attacks and committing crimes that would force the heroes to spend most of their time fighting and chasing instead of training. Though the heroes were victorious every time, the villains just kept coming back... and for the next few days, it was quite routine for most of the heroes to spend all afternoon and evening stopping the various attacks on the city.

Red X was fighting as well, occasionally fighting a villain or group of villains on his own, while sometimes he would receive help from the Titans... but every day, he made sure to visit Terra, talking with her as much as he could, trying to get her back on the team... though with every passing day, she seemed to be enjoying her new life more and more. She was making friends, friends whom Red X would often see her walking with, wearing her school uniform... X thought the black tie looked very tacky on her.

But through it all, the thief had been fighting... and on the fifth day since Terra had left the team, a particularly dire situation was taking place.

Killer Moth, along with Kitten, Fang, Atlas, and Katarou, had invaded a crowded department store. Everyone inside had been cocooned, hanging from the ceiling as hostages to lure in the Titans... and sure enough, Robin and the rest of Titans West had arrived to save the day. The fighting had been intense, and despite the fact that Atlas and Katarou had been knocked out, the five Titans were exhausted, and they still had the deadly Killer Moth, his daughter, and her boyfriend to beat.

"You're not gonna get away with this, Killer Moth!" shouted Robin, pointing his reclaimed bo staff at the insect fiend as he stood atop a large stack of television sets, his hands on his hips. Robin was on one knee, and the other Titans were in a similar condition... five days of fighting had left Titans West exhausted, and confronted with equal numbers, they'd been nearly defeated.

"I know you can't take much more of a beating, and I'm about to finish you off," replied Killer Moth, looking over at his daughter Kitten, who held a fiery red whip in her right hand. "Kitten, you and Fang can handle these fools, right?"

"Of course, daddy..." said Kitten, lashing her whip across the backs of Starfire and Raven with enough force to knock them flat on their faces. "And I'll keep Robbie-poo all to myself..."

"That will _not _happen!" declared Starfire, painfully picking up her weary body from the floor, her green eyes illuminating as she prepared to strike Kitten and Fang with one last flurry of Starbolts. "Everyone, get up... we must not lose!"

But just as the Titans began to charge at Kitten and Fang, several storms of deadly moths began swarming in from all sides, attacking the Titans with sharp fangs and deadly beams of light that they could shoot out of their eyes.

"Since when could Killer Moth's bugs do THAT?" shouted Cyborg, trying to destroy as many bugs as he could with his plasma cannon before being overwhelmed by the moths and falling to the ground again.

"Since I bred them especially for just that purpose," replied Killer Moth confidently, laughing as his laser-shooting bugs forced the Titans once more to their knees. "Now, Kitten... they're all yours for the-"

Dozens of small explosions appeared above the Titans' heads as several large streams of bright red electricity shot through the swarms of moths, incinerating them instantly. When the explosions dissipated, the Titans turned their heads toward the front of the store... standing in the doorway was Red X, his palm pointed outward, directly at Killer Moth's head.

"I hope I'm not too late to save your asses... this place was kinda far from my school, you know."

"Red X! You have arrived to assist us!" shouted Starfire excitedly. She wanted to run over and give him a hug, but all the pain in her muscles allowed her to do was to express her gratitude... Killer Moth, on the other hand, was _furious_.

"NO! I raised those bugs from when they were just larvae! How dare you... you ruined months of laborious work!"

"Next time," replied Red X, casually walking past the downed Titans toward Killer Moth, "I suggested not working so hard on something that the average person can squish under their foot."

"X, look out!" warned Robin, causing X to turn his head just as Kitten's fiery whip came down on his shoulder. The blow ripped into X's costume, making a large, painful gash in his skin and causing him to let out a loud scream.

"You're gonna pay for killing Daddy's moths," said Kitten contemptuously, preparing to strike X with her whip again. "Say goodbye, loser!"

As Kitten brought down her whip a second time, the thief quickly formed a Xynothium shield around his body. When the whip hit X's shield, all the heat energy was transferred back into Kitten's hand, giving her palm an extremely painful burn. She shrieked in agony, stumbling back while staring down at her now-blistered fingers. Seeing his girlfriend in pain, an enraged Fang lunged forward at X, only to have the thief withdraw his wrist blade and stab it right inbetween Fang's pincers, stopping the spider hybrid in his tracks.

"I don't think you'll be kissing your girlfriend for quite some time," said X, before drawing back his fist and punching Fang in his human stomach. The spider creature let out a loud, painful gasp, stumbling backwards for several seconds before falling over onto his back, unconscious and bleeding from the mouth. X then turned to Killer Moth, who had clearly run out of options, and was now just looking for a way to escape.

"You'll pay for this, I assure you..." said Killer Moth, who now had his wincing daughter at his side. "Come, Kitten... we need to plan our revenge."

As the father and daughter pair of villains made their way to the exit, the thief turned back toward the Titans, who were just now starting to get up... and Robin had no intention of letting Killer Moth and his villainous daughter escape.

"X... you need to go stop them!"

Red X looked back toward Kitten and Killer Moth... then up at the dozens of cocoons hanging overhead. Inside, the trapped patrons of the department store were still struggling to get free, and their muffled cries could only faintly be heard... their entire bodies, including their heads, were completely covered up.

"Can they breathe...?" inquired the thief.

"Yes, but not for very long..." replied Raven, using her empathy to sense the vitals of the people trapped inside.

"Didn't think so." And with that, X fired up a large amount of shurikens into the air, one for every trapped customer in the store. The cocoons were destroyed, with only a small section left intact to hold up each of the hostages by their legs... it was a long drop to the floor below, and X didn't want anyone breaking any bones. "You get them down, I've got some other business to take care of."

As X walked back toward the entrance, someone placed a hand on his shoulder... it was Beast Boy.

"...what has Terra been saying?" asked the changeling, a look of concern on his face.

"She's doing better, but... she still doesn't want to be on the team. She's getting out of school in a few minutes, I'm gonna go ask her again."

The thief walked past Beast Boy and exited the store, leaving him still worried about the fate of his friend, the ex-Titan Terra... who he just hoped was happy, wherever she was.

_"Wait a minute... getting out of school...?" _X's words were stunning... just a few days removed from leaving the Titans, and Terra was already attending school like a normal girl? _"Geez... she's even more shaken up than I thought..."_

For a moment, Beast Boy briefly entertained thoughts of following X and paying Terra a visit... but seeing how much trouble his fellow Titans were having in helping the store's customers down from the ceiling, he thought better of it and decided to help his teammates instead.

He couldn't help but think that saving the people in the store would be a lot easier if Terra was still around...

O-O-O

But Terra, clad in her white dress shirt, black tie, and mid-length skirt, had no desire to return to the Titans... and as she said goodbye to her friends, holding a stack of books close to her chest, she began to think about the past week, and how much her new life was helping her to forget about Slade... which, as it turns out, was not very much at all.

It was that thought, that Slade was still watching her, still had plans to make her hurt the rest of the team, that continued to keep her away from the Titans, despite how much that Sanza had begged her to return. Now, Sanza was coming toward her again... though this time, he was Red X, not having had time to change out of his costume on his way to the school.

"Sanza, hey..." Terra smiled as X ran over, though she was carrying too many books to give him a hug. "Don't tell me... you just came from a mission, didn't you?"

"Yeah... Killer Moth and a bunch of his friends attacked a department store and beat up the Titans, and I had to save them."

"...really?" Terra was a bit surprised to hear that X had bailed out the Titans, knowing that in hand-to-hand combat, he usually had trouble just beating Robin. "That's pretty cool..."

"Yeah, but..." X bowed his head, stopping himself before the question even came out. _"...but they wouldn't have needed me if you'd have been there helping them."_

Terra could tell exactly what X was going to try and ask her, and it was beginning to get annoying. How many times did she have to tell him 'no'? What business was his that she join the Teen Titans anyway, considering that he wasn't even a member?

And if she still loved him, why did it even matter whether or not she was on the Titans?

_"I already told you, no matter what happens, you and I are still together, Sanza..."_

The silence was getting more and more awkward with every passing second, and X could tell that Terra was deep in thought. Maybe this was it... maybe she was actually thinking about re-joining the team... and against his better judgment, X once again launched into his request.

"I know you feel bad about what Slade did, but... the only way you're going to feel confident about using your powers again is if you use them to help us kick his ass! Come on, Terra... I know you want to fight with us again... I can see it... come on..."

"Sanza, the _last _thing I ever want to do is to see Slade again! Every time I see him, it just reminds me of all the horrible things I did... everything that happened... that's why I quit, because fighting with the Titans and being with Slade just makes me feel like I'm a horrible person!"

"But Terra, you're not-"

"And what makes you think I even _want _to be confident about using my powers again?" shouted Terra, her voice getting angrier and angrier. "You know when I was most confident about using my powers? When I was working for Slade! When I was trying to take over the city! I didn't feel anything _but _confidence! So when you say you want me to feel confident about my powers, it almost sounds like you want me to work for Slade... like you want me to be evil or something! Is _that _what you want, Sanza?"

X was stunned into speechlessness by what Terra had told him... and a familiar wave of guilt began forming within his mind... he remembered what Cleo had told him after he'd revealed to her that he was Red X... and now, began to think that everything he was saying, everything he was doing was hurting the person he loved with all his heart... and that anything he could say would just make everything worse.

Terra, on the other hand, was also feeling guilty. Sanza didn't deserve to be yelled at... but she didn't want him asking her to join the team, not ever again.

"Look," Terra said, her tone still indicating that she was quite annoyed with the current topic of conversation. "I don't wanna talk about this, okay? I don't want to be a Teen Titan, not now, not ever... I just want to live a normal life, but I still really want you to be a part of it, okay? Why can't you accept that?"

"Terra... I do... I do accept it, and I appreciate that you still want me in your life, but-"

"Then don't talk to me about joining the Titans again. _Ever._"

And with that, Terra walked around Red X and headed down the sidewalk. She turned back toward him, trying to give him an excuse for leaving in such a hurry.

"I've got a lot of homework tonight... come visit me at the cave tomorrow and we can talk. Just... not about this, okay?"

And then, Terra was gone, leaving Red X alone in front of the school. He bowed his head toward the ground... Terra had calmed down before she left, but he could tell that everything he'd said was a mistake. Before she'd spoken to him, she looked happy... now, she was probably thinking about Slade again... she was sad, she was angry, she was scared...

_"And it's all my fault."_

With a long, heavy sigh, Red X turned and walked down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, heading back toward his apartment. He didn't feel like fighting anymore... at least not until he'd taken a good long while to think everything through... and to think about how he could possibly make Terra feel better.

O-O-O

"The attacks on the city have all gone according to plan... the Titans are on constant alert, not knowing where we will strike next, or who we will strike with. They have not been afforded an opportunity to train together, and are beginning to tire out from the constant fighting."

The Brain's status report was pleasing to hear, though it was something that Monsieur Mallah, Madame Rouge, and General Immortus already knew... and it was of little importance to Slade, who observed the meeting from his familiar spot: the corner of the room.

"Soon, we shall make our final strike against the city, where we will attack with all of our villainous forces at once, and wipe out the heroes once and for all. General Immortus, your experience in leading great forces makes you the prime candidate to lead the attack."

"I am honored to accept this great duty, my lord," said the general, bowing graciously before the Brain.

"As for the two of you... Mallah, Rouge, there has been one constant, particular thorn in my side throughout the various battles that have taken place this week. One hero has done more than any other... and he does not consider himself to be a hero at all."

On one of the room's large screens, images of Red X assisting the Titans and their allies in numerous battles over the past few days played out on the screen. Fueled by his desire to get revenge for Terra, the thief had done more than any other to fight off the villains' attacks... and the Brotherhood of Evil had taken notice.

"My lord, this Red X was supposed to be handled by our comrade Slade," said Madame Rouge, shooting a quick glare at the criminal mastermind from across the room. "You were to make this young man your apprentice, were you not?"

"The plans have changed," Slade replied, not moving from his spot in the shadows, which revealed very little of his body... he preferred to let his menacing voice do the talking. "Even after the departure of his precious Terra, he still chooses to fight on the side of the Titans... it seems that my actions have made him even more determined to stop us."

_"So... in other words, you fucked up," _thought Madame Rouge, though she kept that particular comment to herself, deciding instead to volunteer for the task of stopping Red X herself. "If I may... I would like to be allowed to engage Red X in combat, one-on-one... I believe that my skills are quite suited to the task of defeating him."

"Your initiative is noted, Rouge... it is settled. While General Immortus and I prepare for the final battle with the city's heroes, you will personally deal with Red X."

A wicked smile crossed Madame Rouge's face... despite all that she'd seen the dangerous young thief do, she was more than up to the challenge of humbling him like he'd never been humbled before.

O-O-O

Back in the main room of Titans Tower, Beast Boy sat alone on the couch, staring up at the blank television screen. The rest of his team, along with Titans East and the other young heroes, were either sleeping or training in other sections of the Tower, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

_"Man... it's been one week since the Doom Patrol got captured, and there's been no sign of them... I really hope they're okay."_

Every time that the Titans were called to battle, Beast Boy kept hoping to himself that the Doom Patrol would be there... and with every day that went by, the changeling was beginning to lose hope. It had been more than a week now, and he sometimes wondered whether the Brotherhood of Evil had just decided to dispose of them for good... that would probably be the smart thing to do, considering all of the trouble the Doom Patrol had caused for them over the years.

_"No! They can't be dead... as long as they're alive, they can still be used as bargaining chips... the Brotherhood would be stupid to kill them! But... I just hope they're all right... I promise, I won't let you guys down... I'll save you, no matter what!"_

Between the Doom Patrol's captivity and Terra's absence from the team, Beast Boy was feeling quite depressed... and being an empath, Raven could sense that depression. She'd talked to Beast Boy about it several times over the past week, despite the fact that she knew he'd probably try to hit on her... but he just wasn't in the mood. Raven was grateful for that, but at the same time, Beast Boy was her friend, and she didn't want to see him sad like this... when Beast Boy went an entire week without telling a joke, Raven knew there was something wrong.

She entered the room silently, sitting next to him on the couch and staring at him for several seconds... it took him quite a while just to notice that she was there.

"Hey, Raven... I guess you've come to cheer me up again."

"The very definition of irony."

Raven's witty comment did little to raise Beast Boy's spirits, and he bowed his head again, staring down at his hands, which were folded up in his lap.

"I just... I just can't believe everything that's happening... all of these attacks... Terra's gone... the Doom Patrol is still imprisoned... and I can't help but thinking that it's all my fault."

"It's normal to blame yourself when things like this happen, but... in order: the city's villains are the ones that keep attacking, Slade's the one who drove off Terra, and the Brotherhood of Evil are the ones holding the Doom Patrol captive. Even someone with a tiny brain like yours should've been able to figure that out."

"...hey, my brain isn't tiny...!" said Beast Boy, looking up at Raven and giving her an angry glare.

"I really hate to see you like this, Beast Boy. Even when you're happy and telling jokes, you're not funny. When you're depressed, you're really, really, really, really, really, _really _not funny."

"I am too funny when I'm telling jokes! Geez, Rae, I can't believe you'd start insulting me when I'm feeling as bad as I am!"

"And I can't believe that your room stinks as bad as it does, but I guess you must be too depressed to wash your underwear, too."

Now Beast Boy was _really _angry. He got up from the couch, his fists tightly clenched as he walked over to Raven and stood right in front of her, pointing a trembling finger right in her face.

"What is _with _you? I thought you were supposed to care about other people's feelings... you've never treated me like this, not ever, usually I at least have to provoke you to get you to insult me, but now you're just... now you're..."

Suddenly, Beast Boy's yelling came to a rather quick stop... he stood there for several seconds, pointing at Raven and trying to remember what he'd been thinking about before she came into the room and started hurling insults at him. As he was doing this, he became calmer and calmer. He lowered his arm and stepped back from Raven, blinking his eyes and realizing just what Raven had been trying to do.

"I... I got so mad at you that... that I forgot about-"

"How sad you were, precisely," said Raven, lowering her hood and looking up at Beast Boy nonchalantly. "It's difficult for the mind to handle two strong, conflicting emotions at once, at least if they're coming from two different sources. When you got mad at me, you forgot about whatever else it was that was making you sad."

For the first time, Raven had been able to get Beast Boy to stop being so depressed... at least for a little while. All the reassurances in the world hadn't been able to help, but a few minutes of anger had worked wonders... and the green changeling was left stupefied to wonder just how exactly it had been accomplished.

"Uh... thanks... I think?"

"You're welcome," said Raven, standing up from the couch and making her way back toward one of the hallways leading out of the room. "By the way, your room doesn't stink anymore, I took the liberty of washing all of your underwear for you... which means that the toxic protection suit is currently in the de-contamination room. If there's a poison gas attack on the Tower, we're all going to die."

And with that slightly pessimistic warning, Raven exited the main room. Beast Boy sat back down on the couch, not nearly as depressed about the recent events as he'd been just a few moments before... in fact, he was smiling.

_"Raven, what would I ever do without you...?"_

O-O-O

"Dear heavenly Father, please give Terra the strength she needs to find it in her heart to return to the Teen Titans... we need her so much, and I miss fighting by her side... she needs You now more then ever, Lord... in Jesus name I pray, Amen."

Sanza knelt at the altar of the cathedral, the silence of the large, empty room occasionally broken by the loud claps of thunder that were coming from outside, and the sound of heavy rainfall battering the roof of the building.

He'd been praying for Terra for several nights, but this was the first time that he'd actually visited his church, the Cathedral of St. Ignacius, to pray for her... maybe, thought Sanza, if he was in God's house, God would be more likely to respond to Sanza's prayers...

But as Sanza stood up and stared at the large, wooden cross that hung down from the ceiling, a thought began to enter his head. Whether it was the voice of God, or just the voice of his own intuition, Sanza was having an epiphany.

_"Mom said that she was praying for Terra to find peace... but I've always thought that she could only find peace when she was with the Titans... with her friends, using her powers to help people instead of hurting them..."_

But from what Terra was telling him, it was when she was using her powers that she wasn't able to find peace... and that the only time she'd ever been confident in herself was when she was evil. Her entire life, Terra had been trying to use her powers for good, and had caused so much pain and destruction in doing so, that she viewed her powers as a terrible curse... and the more that she tried to do good with them, the more harm she did... culminating in those terrible days when she'd tried to kill the only friends she ever had.

Now, it seemed she had new friends... a new life... and she didn't have to use her powers to feel good... didn't have to fight evil to feel at peace.

_"What am I thinking...? Thinking that Terra's at peace when she's fighting? That doesn't even make sense...!"_

Sanza fell to his knees, bowing his head once more and letting his arms slump limply at his sides. Every memory, every moment, every conversation he'd ever had with Terra began to replay itself in his mind... when did Terra seem the happiest?

When she was a normal girl... when she wasn't even thinking about her powers.

_"And I love her... so... her being happy is what I should have been praying for all along... God... I've been so terrible... so wrong..."_

A single tear fell down the side of Sanza's face. He began to tremble, looking up once more at the cross before whispering a new prayer... one that he desperately wanted God to answer.

"Dear Lord, please... please bring peace to Terra... peace in whatever she does... please make her happy, please keep her safe... so that no matter what life she wants to live, she doesn't have to suffer ever again... I love her so much, all I want is for her to be at peace."

As Sanza looked up at the cross, he was being watched... Madame Rouge stood in front of one of the stained-glass windows, her feet positioned on the narrow ledge in front of it, giving her the perfect view of the praying Sanza below.

_"You pray all you want, Sanza... pray for your precious Terra... you should be praying for yourself."_

Her arms crossed over her chest, Rouge was supremely confident that she could beat Sanza to within an inch of his life, even as the skilled and versatile Red X. Before Sanza even had the chance to notice her, the black-haired villainess phased through the window behind her back, disappearing from the cathedral.

_"Because you're going to need divine intervention if you want to have a chance in hell against me."_

O-O-O

Sanza may be praying, but if he's not careful, he's going to _be _prey... but he's not the only one who's in trouble! The city is about to be under siege... will General Immortus' legions conquer the heroes and claim victory? Will Beast Boy be able to rescue the Doom Patrol? And will Kid Flash charm Jinx into switching sides? The excitement is about to come to a head, and if you miss the next chapter, you'll be sorry!


	11. For The Queen To Use

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Sanza slept in the next morning, not getting out of bed until it was nearly eleven o'clock. By then, Maria and Maddy had already eaten breakfast, but when Maria saw her sleepy son stumble into the kitchen, she immediately offered to cook something up for him.

"You've had a rough week, haven't you?" asked Maria, walking over to the counter and looking into the cabinet to see if there was anything she could make quickly.

"I'll just have some cereal," Sanza replied, sitting down at the kitchen table and rubbing the last of the sleep out of his eyes. It _had _been a rough week, not just physically, but emotionally as well... at least it was the weekend, which gave Sanza a chance to catch up on all the precious sleep that he would need to continue the fight against the villains that were plaguing the city.

"You sure? I don't mind making you some pancakes and bacon... I mean, your sister and I have already eaten..."

"What about Kole and Gnarrk? Did they go to the Tower, or-"

"Oh, Kole is upstairs playing with Maddy right now," said Maria, turning to Sanza with a smile on her face and a box of cereal in her right hand. In the week that Kole and Gnarrk had spent in the apartment below the Salazars', Kole and Maddy had gotten to know each other pretty well... and when Kole wasn't at Titans Tower, she was usually spending time with Maddy. Gnarrk would either accompany the two, or would just stay at Titans Tower to train in combat techniques, leaving the two adolescent girls to enjoy themselves alone. "They had breakfast with us this morning... that Gnarrk can put down quite a lot."

"Well, he's a caveman, so I can imagine..."

Maria placed a bowl in front of Sanza, and several boxes of cereal next to it, with a carton of milk and a spoon on the other side of the bowl.

"Be sure to put up the cereal when you're done..." Maria told Sanza, giving him a kiss on the top of his head before exiting the kitchen and returning to the living room. Sanza took one of the boxes of cereal and poured it out into the bowl, filling it all the way up to the top before pouring in the milk... causing a bit of cereal and milk to spill out over the edges.

"_Damn..." _thought Sanza, letting out a sigh as he walked over to retrieve a paper towel. _"I really _am _tired..."_

He ate quickly, using the time to think about what his plans would be for the rest of the day. It was Saturday, and there was supposed to be a lock-in at the high school that night... a party featuring games, music, basketball... and most of Sanza's friends would be there.

But he knew that he probably wouldn't be able to go... it was likely that he'd be spending the entire day either training in the Tower, or fighting off another villain attack. Then again, he could also spend time with Terra... she wouldn't be at school that day, so it was likely that she'd be spending the entire day in her cave.

"_That's no way to spend a Saturday," _thought Sanza, shoveling a big spoonful of sweet, crunchy cereal into his mouth. _"I'm sure she'd much rather spend tonight doing something fun... but what...? I'd take her to the lock-in, but only students from my school are allowed to go... maybe I could just walk with her in the park or something..."_

Sanza set his spoon into his bowl of cereal and let out a long, heavy sigh. He had so much to do, so many decisions to make... before he took up the fight against evil with the Teen Titans, this decision would've been a lot easier. He'd have probably spent the night committing a burglary. He was completely carefree, doing what he _wanted _to do...

But now, he didn't know _what _he wanted.

"_I _do _want Terra to be happy... I'm gonna go see her tonight, I don't care what happens... if they want me to train, if a bad guy attacks the city... right now, Terra needs me... and I need her."_

O-O-O

"Got any threes?"

"Um... yeah, here you go," said Maddy, handing one of the cards she was holding to Kole, who paired it with one of her own threes and placed the discarded pair face-up on the floor. "Oh no, you only have one card left...!"

"Wanna watch a movie next?" suggested Kole, who sat cross-legged on the floor across from Maddy as the two played Go Fish beside Maddy's bed. Gnarrk watched them from the corner, and upon hearing Kole's suggestion, made a low growl of protest.

"Didn't you promise Gnarrk he could play the winner?"

"Mmm... yeah, I did... but you can watch the movie with us if you want, okay?"

As Gnarrk began weighing the benefits of watching a movie against the benefits of continuing the card game, the door creaked open, and Sanza poked his head inside.

"Kole, I'm going over to the Tower... you guys wanna come with me?"

"Sanza, Kole and I are playing...!" whined Maddy, who then turned to Kole and asked her if she had a nine. Kole didn't, and Maddy was forced to draw. She picked up her card, let out a sigh, and looked back up at Sanza. "Does she have to?"

"Well..." said Kole, putting down her lone card and thinking for a moment, then focusing her attention back on Maddy and beginning to speak. "I probably should... you know how rough things have been in the past few days, they probably need me over there."

"I understand," Maddy replied, though she did look a bit disappointed. She gathered up the cards on the floor and stood up, walking over to Kole as she rose from the floor and giving her a hug. "But I want you to come back as soon as you can, okay? I'll rent a movie and you and me and Gnarrk can watch it together."

"That sounds great," said Kole.

"So... you and Kole are getting to be pretty good friends, huh?" Sanza asked his sister with a smile. "Even if she hangs out with a big caveman most of the time?" 

"Oh, Gnarrk is cool," said Maddy, giggling as she turned to face Kole's caveman friend. "He gives me piggyback rides around the house and everything, isn't that right?"

Gnarrk nodded, and Maddy walked over and gave him a hug as well. As all of this was going on, Sanza was walking back to his room to change into his Red X outfit... and as he was doing so, he couldn't help but think of how wonderful it was for his sister to be making another new friend... especially a friend with superpowers like Kole.

"_The more strong people my sister is friends with, the better... because that means that there will be more people to protect her when I'm not able too..." _thought Sanza, closing the door behind him so he could have some privacy as he changed. Kole wasn't the most powerful of superheroines... transforming into solid diamond was a useful defensive skill, but as offense went, Kole was mostly useless... Gnarrk could do some damage with his fists and his club, but still... if someone like Slade attacked, both Kole and Gnarrk would probably be defeated fairly quickly. _"Still... it's good to know that there's someone else who would fight to defend Maddy... that means I can feel a lot better about spending most of my time protecting Terra."_

O-O-O

A short while later, Red X, Kole, and Gnarrk made the journey to Titans Tower. Upon arrival, the pink-haired girl and her caveman friend immediately headed back to the training area, which left Red X in the main room with Robin. The Boy Wonder was seated on the couch, walking a baseball game on the television screen and holding a bowl of popcorn in his lap. He was so into the game that he barely noticed Red X sitting down next to him.

"I _really _thought you'd be training or something, kid," X commented, surprised to see Robin resting so casually during at such an important time. "You didn't sprain your ankle or something, did you?"

Robin just smiled, taking a handful of popcorn and shoveling it into his mouth.

"Everybody needs rest now and then," said Robin, "but if you wanna go train, there's a bunch of people in there who'd be happy to see you."

Before X could say anything, Cyborg walked over to the couches with several cases of soda in his arms. On top of the soda cases were two bags of chips, potato and tortilla, along with a big bottle of salsa. He sat down on the edge of the couch and placed the soda, chips, and salsa on the floor, before giving Red X a hearty slap on the back.

"Awesome... you like baseball too?"

The slap was a bit too hard for Red X to handle, and he let out a loud gasp, lurching forward and almost doubling over.

"Next time... you hit me like that..." groaned the thief, letting out several coughs and deciding not to continue what would ultimately be an empty threat. He leaned back into the couch and coughed again, staring up at the screen and blinking several times. He looked over at Robin, who was now cheering as one of Jump City's players rounded third and headed for home. "Hunh... the Zeps are winning?"

"Yeah, but it's only the top of the second, so there's a lot of game still left to be played," said Cyborg, waving a 'Jump City Zeppelins' flag as the runner crossed home plate. "YEAH! GO ZEPS! WHOOOOO!!!"

As Robin and Cyborg both stood up and cheered, X opened up one of the cases of soda and grabbed a can, then took off his mask and threw it behind him. He leaned back into the couch and took a big gulp of soda, smiling a bit to himself as the game continued on the screen.

"_Well, I did _not _expect this..." _thought Sanza as Robin and Cyborg sat back down on either side of him. He'd expected to begin training as soon as he'd arrived... but if watching the baseball game meant getting a nice, fun two hour break, he'd take it any day. _"But this isn't so bad... in fact, it's really kind of fun..."_

And so, Sanza watched the rest of the game with Robin and Cyborg, drinking soda, eating chips, and cheering just as hard as they were... and for those brief two hours, he was no longer Red X... and Robin and Cyborg weren't Teen Titans. They were just a group of friends enjoying a lazy afternoon of watching televised baseball without a care in the world...

Sanza had no way of knowing that this would be the last bit of fun that he would have for quite some time.

O-O-O

While many of the Titans trained, and while Sanza, Robin, and Cyborg enjoyed a fun afternoon of watching baseball, one young hero was all by himself... he was seated in a chair, his legs crossed underneath him, just watching the clouds as they moved past the window. With curly blonde hair and big, expressive eyes, he conveyed a cheerful exterior that hid a dark, tragic past... and with flute in hand, he played a mournful tune.

His name was Jericho, and he'd come to Titans Tower at the start of the week... never saying a word, he trained and fought with the coalition of heroes just like one of them, but when he wasn't training or fighting, he isolated himself... and spent most of the week deep in thought.

The door slid open behind him, but he continued to play on his flute, not stopping until he heard Speedy's voice from just behind his chair.

"Hey, Jericho... you know, you really haven't said very much this week... actually, you haven't said anything at all. What's up?"

Jericho stopped playing immediately, turning his head toward Speedy and giving him a quizzical expression... but still, he did not speak. Speedy tried again.

"I mean, if you're shy, that's okay... but we're all friends here, so..."

Jericho gave Speedy a warm, innocent smile, trying to show that he was friendly as well... he didn't want his silence to be interpreted as standoffishness. Speedy waited a few seconds for a verbal reply, but Jericho just kept on smiling... and pretty soon, the bow-wielding Titans East member was beginning to feel very awkward.

"Okay, uh... that's all right, if you don't have anything to say, that's cool... just-"

The door opened again, and this time, it was Aqualad entering the room. Aqualad and Jericho's eyes met, and a moment later, Jericho disappeared... and Aqualad's eyes became a strange green color.

"It's not that I don't want to say anything," said Jericho, using Aqualad as a puppet while Speedy just watched in awe. "I can't... I'm a mute, and I've been a mute for quite some time. Don't feel bad for me, it's all right... I'll do everything I can to help the two of us communicate better. For now, let's just go to the training room, okay?"

A second later, Jericho reappeared in the chair where he was sitting, leaving Speedy stunned and leaving Aqualad extremely dizzy... and feeling for a moment as if he'd drifted off into a light sleep.

"That was... kinda weird," said Aqualad, blinking his eyes and rubbing the side of his head. He looked over at Jericho, who rose from his chair and gave Aqualad an innocent smile. The curly-haired blonde then walked past Speedy, gesturing for his friend to follow him out of the room.

"_I guess everybody's got a secret or two..." _thought Speedy, following Jericho into the hallway as Aqualad watched them, still slightly bewildered and wondering what had just happened. _"I just wish he'd have told me sooner..."_

But Jericho's darkest secret was still hidden deep within the young boy's mind... and though he knew it would soon come out, he would try to keep it hidden as long as he could...

O-O-O

Across the bay, the six members of the H.I.V.E. Five relaxed in their underground lair... Gizmo, Mammoth, Billy Numerous, Kid Wykkyd, and See-More were all having fun in some way or another... but Jinx, the leader of the group and its only female, was reclining in a soft, cushioned chair, her eyes closed as she tried to figure out why she couldn't catch the elusive Kid Flash. She and the other members of the H.I.V.E. had spent five days looking for him, but he'd only showed up when they least expected it... and had escaped after ruining their plans.

"_I'm getting so sick of him...!" _thought Jinx, clenching her fists. _"What's Madame Rouge going to say when I tell her I've been looking for the same guy for five days and haven't been able to even lay a hand on him? I bet if she wanted to, she could catch him in five minutes..."_

But the mystery of why Jinx couldn't catch Kid Flash wasn't the most pressing issue... even more frustrating was the fact that he kept flirting with her, even though he knew that she was trying to capture him. No matter what Jinx said or did, he didn't stop... always over her shoulder with a flower... or multiple flowers, or even a box of candy.

"_If he's trying to get me to turn over a new leaf, he can forget it. This girl's already chosen a side, and being a villain is _way _too much fun... I'm not gonna change my ways just because one guy tells me too... as cute as that one guy is."_

For a brief moment, Jinx thought of Kid Flash and actually smiled... she'd never in all her life had anyone that attractive like her... before, the only guys who'd ever had a crush on her were Cyborg, who turned out to be trying to infiltrate the H.I.V.E., and See-More, who, while he was certainly nice, and cute enough, was just a bit too strange for Jinx's tastes.

"_Kid Flash is the cutest guy I've ever seen... but he's a goody-goody, and there's no way I'm gonna be able to make him turn bad... _grrr... WHY DO ALL THE CUTE ONES HAVE TO BE HEROES?!"

Jinx blurted out her last thought, and almost instantly, the other five members of the H.I.V.E. stopped what they were doing, quizzically looking over at their leader, who was now blushing deeply, trying to get her teammates to forget what they'd just heard.

"Uh..."

The phone in the room rang, giving Jinx just the distraction she needed. She reached over and picked it up, ecstatic to hear Madame Rouge's voice on the other end.

"...what's that? You need us to come over to Brotherhood headquarters right away? Oh... yes, I will tell the others! Thank you so much!"

On the other end of the line, Rouge found herself extremely taken aback by Jinx's enthusiasm... this girl was _much _too excited for her own good.

"...whatever," said Madame Rouge, a hint of contempt in her voice. "You and your companions need to be here in fifteen minutes... you will be receiving your final orders at that time."

After Madame Rouge hung up, Jinx stood up from her chair and turned to the other H.I.V.E. members, her hands on her hips.

"All right, H.I.V.E. Five... Madame Rouge has given us an important mission... we're finally going to be taking out the Teen Titans for good! She wants us to be at Brotherhood headquarters in fifteen minutes, so let's move out!"

"Aww, fifteen minutes?" protested Gizmo, holding a video game controller in his hand, with the cord trailing off into another room. "I've got my video game on pause, can't I finish it up and then go start the mission?"

"And I still haven't finished making lunch yet..." said Mammoth, holding up what was currently a six-foot-tall sandwich. Billy Numerous and See-More chimed in with their own concerns, while Kid Wykkyd just stood there with an annoyed look on his face.

"This is more important than ANY of that stuff! This is the final battle between good and evil for control of the city! Don't any of you even care?" Jinx cried in an exasperated tone. When none of her teammates responded, she turned toward the door and began walking out. "Ugh... c'mon, let's just go..."

As the other H.I.V.E. members grudgingly followed her to the door, Jinx became more and more aware of a very harsh reality... out of all the members of the H.I.V.E. Five, she was the only one who cared about the impending mission. It seemed that if they were going to be catching Kid Flash, it was all going to be up to her...

O-O-O

As late afternoon faded into evening, Sanza found himself back on the roof of Titans Tower, holding his mask in his right hand as he stared out toward the city. After the baseball game had ended, Sanza had spent nearly three hours training with the heroes before coming up to reflect on everything that had happened.

Terra was gone... gone from the Titans, at least, and out of the fight to protect the city. It was still hard for Sanza to imagine just how she must have felt when Slade activated that chip inside her body, when she was forced to attack her friends against her will. She must've been horrified, he could see it on Terra's face the entire time... her eyes were showing the exact same expression that they were when she was almost killed by Sedaris... and Sanza hated seeing her like that.

Terra was gone, and he was left... kept fighting the good fight in her stead, holding onto her communicator until the day of her unlikely return. He held it up and looked at it for a moment, its plastic surface glistening in the sun, a large, white T painted on its surface.

"_This isn't mine... it's hers... she's the Titan, not me... well, she _was _the Titan, anyway..."_

As he continued holding up the communicator, Starfire stepped out onto the roof and walked over to the edge, where Sanza was currently seated, his feet dangling out over the precipice, the soft, black fabric of the Red X suit perfectly conforming to his legs.

"Sanza... how is Terra doing? You have been speaking to her, correct?"

"Yes," he replied quietly, scooting back onto the roof and standing up, still facing out toward the city, his back to Starfire. "She's doing well... she doesn't want me telling you much more than that... and I'm going to obey her wishes. If you knew where she was going-"

"If she does not wish to see any of us, I will not force her too... though I do miss her, very much..."

Sanza turned toward Starfire, whose face was lined with sadness... her eyes most of all. She and Terra were obviously very good friends, and it was clear that the loss of Terra's presence was painful to her, as it was to every other Teen Titan. For a brief moment, Sanza started to reach up and touch Starfire's face... but he decided not to, keeping his hand at his side and waiting for Starfire to say something else.

"I know that... the only reason that you are fighting with us is because the Brotherhood of Evil is working with Slade... still, I am very glad to see that-"

"After this is over... after we beat the Brotherhood and after Slade is dealt with, I..."

What _was _Sanza going to do? Pick up where he left off? Continue to be a thief, continue to fight the Teen Titans... be just like all those other supervillains that both he and the team had been fighting so hard to beat these past few days? It wasn't like Terra was going to stop him... it would be just him against the five original Teen Titans, just as it had always been... before Slade and everyone else had decided to throw a wrench into his life.

"You will do what you want... you have always done what you want," said Starfire. Sanza gave a slight chuckle, turning slightly away and shaking his head. "...what? What is so funny? Is there an Earth joke that I do not yet know, is that why-"

"Starfire, the only reason I took the suit is so I could protect my mom and my sister... that was supposed to be my dad's job, but... he died, and I got stuck with this big responsibility... and the only reason I started stealing is because I needed this Xynothium stuff to power the suit. The only reason I kept stealing is because it started becoming fun... but I completely lost sight of why I took the suit in the first place. I took it to protect the people I love... and I'm horrible at that. All I'm good at doing is stealing, Starfire... just like all you guys are good at is fighting crime. If we tried it the other way around, it just wouldn't work."

"But... but you are quite good at fighting crime! This entire week, you have kicked so much of the butt that we have not failed a single mission! I understand that you do not wish to be a Teen Titan, or even to be a fighter of crime, but... you are amazing, and I am so impressed..."

The sad look on Starfire's face was gone, replaced with joy and excitement as she complimented Sanza... but he would have none of it. The entire week, he'd been doing something that he promised himself he'd never do... running around the city, taking orders from Robin, or sometimes Bumblebee... he'd been doing the work of a Teen Titan, even without actually officially being one... and he hadn't even seen Slade, so the motivation of getting revenge for Terra was thrown completely out the window as well.

"But... I see that you are not happy..." continued Starfire, her smile disappearing. "Is it Terra?"

"It's... it's everything, Starfire," replied Sanza, turning back out to face the skyline. "But yeah, mostly Terra."

"...well, if you need anything... I promise, you can always talk to me..."

Starfire's soft hand gently came to rest on Sanza's shoulder. He said nothing, looking out across the city... past the city, toward the desert and the cave that was now Terra's home.

"_I'm going to take out Slade... and then it's back to doing what I want," _thought Sanza, holding his mask in one hand and Terra's communicator in the other. _"But right now, all I want is to see you..."_

O-O-O

The meeting between General Immortus and his army of villains was held not in the central chamber, but in a much larger room nearby, a large, empty space twice the width of a football field and nearly as long. At the front of the room stood the general himself, on top of a giant tank from which he would conduct his operations out in the city. He was facing more than two dozen villains, nearly every foe that the Teen Titans had ever faced. They'd spent the entire week planning for this day, and now, the time had finally arrived... the war on Jump City was about to begin.

"Tonight," declared the general, his aged voice echoing throughout the large, open room, "You will spread out into the city, attacking the locations that you have been given. The attacks will come simultaneously, the Titans and their allies will be forced to spread out as much as you will... and you will be deployed in such a way that you will have a decisive advantage against any group that could possibly show up to face you. You will fight to kill, taking no prisoners unless it is necessary to further your advantage. You will be relentless... you will not stop until your opponents are defeated!"

"We will destroy the Titans!" shouted Atlas, raising his mechanical fist into the air.

"We'll rip 'em up!" declared Punk Rocket, hovering above the assembled crowd on his floating electric guitar.

"We're gonna crush 'em!"

"Kill 'em!"

"DESTROY THEM!!"

As various shouts began to lift up from the crowd, the assembled villains began to cheer louder and louder, until several were jumping into the air from sheer excitement. After hundreds, maybe thousands of failures, this would finally be the day that the Teen Titans would go down, and the world would be theirs. All were convinced that success was imminent... except perhaps Jinx, who was standing in the middle of the crowd with her head looking slightly toward the floor, and her arms across her chest.

"_From what I've seen of my team, at least, we're in no shape to battle the Teen Titans, even if we _do _have a numbers advantage..."_

"Hey, what's got you so down, Jinx?" said See-More, standing next to his pink-haired friend and slapping his hand hard against her back. "C'mon, we're about to destroy the Teen Titans... you should be the happiest of all! ...you're not thinking of that Kid Flash guy, are you?"

"Only about how I'm gonna destroy him," replied Jinx, smiling nervously and beginning to blush. _"Dammit, Jinx, get it together! Remember, it's gonna have to be YOU that catches him... and maybe See-More, if you can motivate him enough. _And after Kid Flash is destroyed, I'm gonna give you the biggest kiss of your life!"

"...oh... uh... oooooh..." See-More stepped back, his large eye turning bright red, along with the rest of his face. "Let's go get him..."

"That's the spirit," said Jinx, her smile becoming a devious smirk. _"Now I just have to figure out how to slow him down..."_

O-O-O

Nearly half the students at Public School 65 came out for the lock-in... including Cleo, though as she sat by herself on a metal folding chair in the darkened cafeteria, she began to wonder why she showed up in the first place. The tables and chairs had all been pushed aside to create room for a makeshift dance floor, and at one end of the room was a student band, playing a loud rock song for the fifty or so students who had assembled to dance.

"_Mom said that it would be good for me to get out of the house, but... I don't see any reason to dance, not after..." _Cleo let out a loud sigh, bowing her head and wiping a tear away from her face. _"It's been a month, why can't I get over this...?! Life goes on, I have to try to at least have a little bit of fun..."_

Her friends Rob and Marcy, who didn't even know that she'd come in the first place, were playing Dance Dance Revolution in one of the classrooms, leaving Cleo all alone. She sat with her head bowed for nearly a minute, trying to block out all of the dancing and the music from her head, trying to clear her thoughts so that maybe she could allow herself to have at least a bit of fun.

It was then that Steve walked by, strolling through an adjacent hallway and past the cafeteria door. He'd nearly cleared the doorway when he saw Cleo out of the corner of his eye, her body briefly illuminated by the flashing strobelights.

"_Cleo...? She looks like she's about to cry..."_

He walked into the cafeteria and made his way over to Cleo, pulling up a chair beside her and sitting down. She looked up at him, brushing back her straight red hair from her face and trying to conceal the fact that she'd been crying for the past minute.

"Hey... why aren't you dancing or anything? There's lots of fun stuff to do here..."

"I... I just don't feel like it," sniffled Cleo, brushing away another tear. _"What's it any of this guy's business if I'm not having fun? He seems happy enough... why can't he just go be happy somewhere else and leave me alone?"_

"Well... maybe we could go find something else to do besides dancing... they have basketball in the gym, they've got video games... the pool's opened up, wanna go swim in the pool?"

Cleo just stared at Steve for several seconds, trying to give him a look that conveyed that she wanted nothing else to do with him. He seemed to get the message, because he started to stand up... then, remembering what had happened between Cleo and Sanza, sat back down and asked another question.

"Is it because Sanza's not here?"

"...Sanza not being here is the only good part of this whole thing," said Cleo, allowing herself a smile and turning forward for a moment.

"...what happened between you guys anyway? I mean, Sanza used to be your boyfriend before... I mean, you guys were always together, so..."

"It's really complicated, okay?" spat Cleo, whipping her body around to face Steve before getting up from her chair. "You wouldn't understand, so don't try to. Just leave me alone, I'm about to just leave."

But just as Cleo started to walk past Steve, a violent explosion rocked the entire cafeteria, knocking Cleo and many of the people on the dance floor to their knees, and nearly throwing Steve out of his chair. A large hole had been blown in the side of the cafeteria, and through it rolled a large, green tank with General Immortus inside. The tank was flanked by dozens of Sladebots, along with several of the city's most dangerous criminals. Upon seeing the threat now bearing down upon them, most of the students in the cafeteria began to scream, turning and fleeing for their lives... while Cleo stayed motionless on the floor, her mouth wide in shock, her entire body trembling.

"_No..." _thought Cleo, slowly shaking her head as all the horrific memories of what had happened to her at the hands of Lonnie Jarvin began flooding back into her mind. _"Not again... it can't happen again!!!"_

O-O-O

The attack on the school triggered an immediate alert at Titans Tower, accompanied by a large red blip on the map of the city.

"Titans, we've got trouble!" shouted Robin, pointing at the map as the remaining Titans and their heroic allies rushed into the room. Red X was with them, and when he saw where the blinking red dot was on the map, his eyes widened under his mask.

"_That's my school... they're attacking the lock-in!"_

Before Robin could give out any orders, another red blip appeared on the map, signaling another attack on the city.

"There's two of 'em!" shouted Bumblebee, just as a third red blip appeared on the map. "Uh... three?"

Then, at the rate of nearly five a second, more flashing red lights appeared... there were so many attacks that the entire system began to crash, but just before the screen blanked out, more than twenty red dots could be seen flashing on the map. When the emergency restart kicked in, the map reappeared with more than two dozen red dots... the city was completely under siege.

"This is it..." gasped Cyborg, staring in shock at the map of the city, as the Tower's full-alert sirens began blaring throughout the room. "The Brotherhood's attacking with full force..."

"_And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos is the Doom Patrol..." _thought Beast Boy, his face just as shocked as Cyborg's was. But despite all of the attacks on the city, that one red dot blinking over the location of Red X's school was the only one that the thief's eyes were focused on... it looked like his meeting with Terra would have to be postponed.

...or would it?

"_Terra needs me, but... so do my classmates... dammit, Rob and Marcy could be in danger... maybe even Cleo...!! But I haven't seen Terra all day, if I don't show up she'll think something's wrong... dammit, dammit, dammit... shit!!"_

While Bumblebee gave out assignments to her team, and Herald, who had been appointed leader of all the new heroes, gave out assignments to his, Robin rushed over to Red X, knowing exactly what he was staring at.

"Robin, I have to go over there... I have to go alone, this is my problem. Those are my friends, I have to help them..."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked, knowing that because of its sentimental significance, the school would likely be hit harder than most of the other targets. "Some of us will have to go alone, but I can give you a partner if you want."

"...no," said Red X, running toward the front door as quickly as he could, shouting back to Robin. "I'm doing this one alone!!"

"_Then be careful..." _thought Robin, watching as X disappeared before he could give the thief a verbal warning. He turned to the other members of Titans West, who had not yet been given their instructions. "Now, as for the rest of you..."

"Robin, we need to send out someone to look for where the Brotherhood of Evil is hiding the Doom Patrol! They're still in danger, you _know _they're still in danger..."

"Beast Boy, there are twenty-eight different places in the city that need our help," said Robin sternly. "We have to take care of those first... then we can all go look for the Doom Patrol together. I promise, they're not going to get hurt..."

Meanwhile, as Robin was delegating tasks to his team, Kole and Gnarrk stared up at the screen... and like Red X, they found one particular dot very interesting... it was a dot that X had been too busy worrying about his school to notice.

But if he had... it likely would've garnered all of his attention.

"Gnarrk, that dot right there... isn't that the apartment where we were staying?"

Gnarrk stared up at the dot for a moment and nodded, having memorized the exact place in the city where he and Kole had made their temporary home for the past few days. Of course, they weren't the only ones staying there... Sanza, Maria, and Maddy also made their homes in that building, and while Sanza was out saving his school, his mother and sister were apparently being targeted right at that moment.

"We have to get back there right now!" Kole shouted, her eyes wide with fear. "Maddy and Maria could be in big trouble!"

O-O-O

Oblivious to the dangerous situation that his mother and sister were in, Red X crossed the bay and began running toward his school. As he ran down the street, he noticed loud sirens, dozens of them... accompanied by the sound of an occasional explosion, and fires that lit up the sky as the sun quickly set off in the distance.

"_They're attacking the whole city... not just my school, but everywhere..." _For a moment, X began to think of how easy it would likely be to start looting... as he ran toward the city, he could see people running past him, many of them screaming as all of Jump City's worst criminals struck at the same time. _"Eh... I'm better than that, anyway. Anyone can loot... but can they break into heavily-guarded buildings and steal million-dollar pieces of technology? No... only I can do that..."_

But Red X was above causing random chaos like he was sure many of the criminals in Jump City were doing at the moment... and certainly above attacking a school. Whoever did that was going to pay... but just as always, the thief's thoughts began drifting over to Terra. As he neared the part of the city where his school was located, he began to slow down... not because his legs were getting tired, but because he was having second thoughts. Sure, his classmates were in danger... they needed him, and if he didn't go save them, no one would.

"_But if I don't go over and see Terra, she's gonna start wondering... I mean, after that fight we had yesterday, if I don't come, she'll think I hate her..."_

X continued to run down the sidewalk, shaking his head.

"_No... she loves me, and she _knows _I love her... but... she's in a really fragile emotional state right now, so..."_

Red X slowed down even more, then came to a stop. By now, most residents of Jump City were either making their way out on the highway, or were boarded up inside their homes... there was no one out on the street, at least where X was... he was just a few blocks away from the school, standing in front of a large warehouse... the very same one that Slade had told him to come to the previous week.

He had a decision to make. Go and talk to Terra, or go help his friends back at the lock-in. It was a very difficult decision, like so many others he'd made in the past... he knew what the _right _thing to do was. He had a duty to go to the school and help his classmates... he had a duty to be a hero.

But he _wanted _to be with Terra, wanted to make sure she was all right... wanted to apologize for everything he'd said, for trying to make her come back to the Teen Titans... but before he could make his decision, the decision was made for him.

"SANZA, HELP!"

X turned toward the warehouse, toward the loud scream that had come from just behind him, a scream that sounded just like...

"Terra!"

The blonde geomancer's head was poking out the front door of the warehouse, and she was reaching out with one of her hands... when suddenly, a hand clasped tightly over her mouth, and started to pull her into the building. She let out a muffled scream just before her head disappeared from view.

"Terra... don't worry, I'm coming...!" As quickly as he could, Red X rushed into the warehouse and looked back and forth down the hallway. He could hear Terra's cries from deeper within the building, and continued to make his way inside, turning a few times before finally reaching the large, dimly-lit storeroom of the warehouse. He looked all around, but Terra was nowhere in sight... "Terra! TERRA! If you're here-"

"Ahhh... you must be Red X. I've heard so much about you..."

X turned toward one of the corners of the room, where he could see a tall woman emerging from the shadows. Her short black hair and red clothing gave her a menacing appearance as she slowly made her way toward the thief, who crouched into a fighting position, his palms beginning to glow.

"Where's Terra... you bitch, what the hell have you done with her?"

Saying nothing, Rouge continued to step forward... and to Red X's amazed horror, her body began to transform... until she looked just like Terra, and her voice was a spot-on match.

"You're so foolish..." said Rouge in Terra's voice, as contemptuously as she could. "All it took to bring you here was the threat of harm coming to your precious Terra... but I'm not her. I'm your worst nightmare."

As quickly as she'd transformed into Terra, Rouge's body returned to normal. A feeling of rage began to form within Red X, who knew he'd been tricked... and now, it seemed, he was trapped with one of the most dangerous members of the Brotherhood of Evil.

"If you think you're my worst nightmare, you've got another thing coming... I swear, I'm going to make you pay for using her against me..."

The fact that Madame Rouge knew his true identity wasn't important to Red X... all that was important now was beating her as soon as he possibly could, and helping his classmates... or getting back to Terra, whatever he decided after the battle was over. He raised one of his arms and prepared to fire an X at Rouge, but she quickly expanded one of her own arms, looping it around his wrist and tossing him into the air. The thief flipped over twice before landing on his feet behind Rouge, regaining his composure and quickly turning around to face her again.

"You're very agile..." Rouge purred, turning around slowly and placing her hands on her hips. "This will be more difficult than I thought..."

"Not for me it won't," said the thief, pointing both of his palms at Rouge and firing several Xs out of each. "Once I stop you from stretching... and while I'm at it, I'll stop you from talking, too."

Before Rouge could react, the Xs had expanded into binding cables, two of them encircling her arms and pinning them to her sides and her wrists behind her back, while two more wrapped around her legs at the thighs and ankles, and a final X affixed itself to her mouth. She didn't move, she didn't struggle... just stood motionless, her narrowed eyes staring straight into the thief's.

"Awww... somebody looks mad," Red X taunted, smirking beneath his mask. "It's all right, you wouldn't believe how many battles I've won this-"

Madame Rouge took a step forward, her ankles and thighs phasing right through the cables wrapped around her legs. As she continued the motion, she phased through her arm bonds as well... and finally, her head phased forward, causing the X over her mouth to sift back through her face, then out the back of her head, landing on top of the cables, which disintegrated into Xynothium goo.

"...oh, shit."

The newly-freed Rouge expanded her right arm, causing her fist to slam into X's chest with great force, throwing him backward several feet and causing him to land hard on the ground.

"Your weapons may be designed to work on the Teen Titans, but they are all useless against me," claimed Rouge as X slowly made it to his feet. "And without your weapons, you are finished."

"We'll see about that."

X rushed forward, extending his wrist blades and slashing at Rouge's midsection. She did not dodge the swing... instead, she allowed the blade to cleave right through her waist, cutting her body in two.

"_She... she didn't even dodge...!" _thought Red X, who expected Rouge's top half to immediately fall to the ground, and began to trace the Sign of the Cross on his chest. But to his stunned amazement, the wound cleaving Rouge's body in two immediately healed itself. The thief took a step back, only to have Rouge's leg stretch out and hit him across the side of the head, nearly flinging him to the ground. Rouge then threw a straight punch at Red X's head, which the thief barely managed to avoid. "Okay, no more games..."

X reached up and grabbed Rouge by the wrist, trying to pick her up and toss her back over his shoulder. She immediately stretched her arm outward, curling it around X's body and trying to trap him. He rolled out of the way and fired a pair of explosive Xs at Rouge, which hit her body and finally seemed to cause her a bit of pain, knocking her backwards and putting some distance between the two combatants.

"Guess you weren't ready for that one, huh?" asked Red X, firing two more exploding Xs in Rouge's direction.

"You guessed right," Rouge responded honestly, stretching her legs upward and allowing the two Xs to pass between them before returning to her normal form and watching them harmlessly impact the far wall. "But that was a lucky shot... it will not happen again."

"We'll see about that."

Forgoing another explosive attack for the moment, X came at Rouge, hoping to attack her again physically. He punched her in the chest, knocking her back a bit before attempting to sweep his leg under hers. She countered the attack by lifting up her foot, trying to use her leg to trip up X as he had almost done to her. He stepped back and kicked her in the knee, and she let out a cry of pain, doubling over and putting her chin squarely in the path of X's forearm.

The blow stunned Rouge momentarily, and once again, the thief was able to hit her with a barrage of Xs aimed right at her chest. The Xs hit, but did not explode... instead, they stopped as soon as they hit her body, sticking to her torso.

"_...did I fire the wrong weapon...?" _thought the thief, before watching as the Xs slowly began to disappear inside Rouge's body. _"...oh no."_

Knowing exactly what Red X was thinking, Madame Rouge smiled and took a step back, reveling for a moment in her opponent's shock.

"This body is capable of a lot more than stretching or expanding... it can also take your attacks and turn them against you... like so."

Rouge lifted up her arms and blasted the thief with the explosives intended for her. The blast knocked X all the way back across the room, screaming in pain as the force of the explosion buffeted his body. He slammed into the wall at the end of the warehouse, slumping painfully against it and watching as Madame Rouge slowly advanced toward him.

"_Shit... that looked like it was hurting her for a while there..."_

Slowly, Red X picked himself up from the ground, extending his wrist blades again and crossing them over his chest.

"Didn't we already go over that once? It will not work, I can assure you..."

Ignoring Rouge's warning, X charged forward again, lunging toward Rouge with one of his blades pointed squarely at his chest. He thrust right at her heart, piercing into her body... and immediately hearing a loud, gasping scream. He looked up and saw Rouge's eyes go wide, and knew that his attack had been a success.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again..." said X, who then began to pull his blade out of Rouge's chest... only to find out that it wouldn't budge. "What the...?"

He tried several more times, but it seemed his blade was stuck... and when he looked up at Madame Rouge, she was no longer gasping... she was smiling.

"Fooled you," she cooed in a tone of mock-sweetness, before slamming her fist into X's face in a series of brutal punches. By the time he finally managed to extricate his blade from Rouge's chest, the thief could feel blood beginning to pour down his nose and mouth, staining the insides of his mask.

"_Goddamn that hurt! This is starting to really get serious..."_

But before X could think anymore, Rouge kicked at him again, her leg swinging up and forward, right at his face. He reached up and stopped it with both hands, only to feel a warm, gooey substance begin to ooze around them... Rouge's leg was expanding, and had already trapped X's hands within.

"I have got you now..." she stated, smiling as the thief frantically began trying to pull his arms free from her rapidly-expanding leg.

"_No, you don't!" _Electricity began shooting from X's palms, quickly engulfing Rouge's leg and causing her to let out a loud, painful scream. Her leg returned to normal, enabling X to get his arms free. He stepped back, then threw a punch that caught Rouge squarely in the nose. Still tingling with electricity, Rouge's body gave a slight twitch, and X again resorted to his blades, making multiple slashes through the female villainess. He sliced off her arms, then once diagonally through her head, and twice through her torso.

This time, she collapsed into a small pile of body parts at Red X's feet. There was no blood, no visible organs... the insides of her body seemed to be comprised of a black, gooey substance with the consistency of soft rubber.

"_...what the hell is she...?" _thought X, stepping back from the pile of body parts and pointing both of his palms down toward it, preparing to fire at the first sign of movement. _"No way in hell she can be human..."_

As the pile began to reform, the thief opened fire with several exploding Xs, creating a large cloud of dust and smoke and flame, and completely obscuring whatever was left of Madame Rouge's body. He stared into the smoke for several moments, waiting once more for any sign of movement, while at the same time hoping that this strange battle was finally over.

The smoke began to clear, revealing a much smaller pile of ashes mixed with rubbery goo... what normally would be excessive force was exactly what it took to eliminate Madame Rouge for good. X let out a quiet sigh of relief, taking a moment to catch his breath... the battle had been fairly brief, but it had still worn him out... and his body was aching all over from the numerous heavy blows he'd received.

"You... were one _freaky _lady..." X commented, placing a hand over his chest and beginning to cough. _"Damn, am I glad that's-"_

An excruciating pain began shooting up Red X's body, originating at his crotch... which currently felt as if it was being squeezed in a vice. He looked down, and to his horror, he could see a hand squeezing his groin, attached to an arm that was reaching up out of the pile of goo... a pile which was rapidly reforming back into a person again. As soon as Madame Rouge reformed, she gave a quick laugh, squeezing harder and watching as her victim trembled in pain.

"It looks like I've got you by the balls..." She then slammed her other arm right into X's face, her forearm impacting his already bloody nose. She released her hold on the thief's groin and watched as he stumbled back, hunched over and gasping in breathless pain. "I'll give you a moment to recover... I don't normally show my enemies such mercy, but this is one of the more entertaining battles I've fought in my life, so..."

Red X nearly collapsed, and at the same time, he felt as if he would throw up... the combination of the blow to the face and Rouge's groin-grabbingly stunning revival had left him in agony, and his legs felt like they were barely there.

"Shall we continue?" said Madame Rouge, her left hand resting firmly on her hip. "I don't have all night..."

Though still in serious pain, X's growing frustration with how the fight was going spurned him forward, and he charged Rouge again, throwing a series of punches and kicks that the skilled villainess was easily able to block without even stretching or expanding herself. After about ten seconds of this, Rouge slammed her fist into X's chest, stunning him and giving her enough time to elbow X right in the mouth.

"Unngh!" The blow was strong enough to make X think that one of his teeth had been knocked loose, though when he checked it with his tongue, he felt that it wasn't. Still, it had been a very forceful strike, and it made his already bloody lip even bloodier. _"I don't believe this... she's kicking my ass...!"_

Rouge launched a strong kick at X's head, which he avoided by ducking just narrowly out of the way. A punch then came at his face, but he was able to dodge to the side and launch a punch of his own, one that Rouge was able to block against the back of her left hand.

"You are beginning to tire out, I see... you are not nearly as quick as you were at the start of the fight... and it takes me very little effort to block your pathetic blows," said Rouge, before striking X in the forehead with a moderately-strong headbutt, stunning him for a moment and allowing her to then kick X in the side. The thief let out a grunt of pain, throwing out another punch that Rouge was able to stop by catching his fist in her hand. "In fact, I could have dodged your blows right from the start... your pathetic weapon attacks... you do not think you sliced me to pieces by your own effort, do you?"

X stopped his attacks and leapt back, staring into Rouge's eyes in stunned disbelief. Of course he sliced her to pieces by his own effort, she was stunned and he took advantage... right?

"Do not look so shocked... after all, I told you from the very beginning that none of your weapons would work on me. I can reform my body in an instant, recover from any wound, even if you cut me up into a thousand pieces I would be able to pull myself together. Dodging your slashes would have been a waste of energy and effort... a mistake that you seem to have been making the entire fight."

By now, Red X was incredibly exhausted, his breath coming in short, labored gasps, his arms and legs struggling with every punch or kick he threw. The fight had drained him, but Rouge seemed as full of energy as she had at the opening salvo... and while he was covered in bruises and cuts, her body looked completely untouched.

"You... you're lying... no one would let me... do all that...!"

"I admit, it did hurt... only for a moment. Once the wound healed, my pain nerves shut off, and I was back to top form. But I can see that you're still hurting quite a bit... aren't you?"

She was playing with him now, trying to make him squirm... and X would have none of it. He pointed his palms at Rouge and fired again, the same attack he'd used to trap Sorel... four Xs on the floor, surrounding Rouge on all sides... the energy radiating between them trapping Rouge inside of a glowing, red Xynothium dome. She looked around for a moment before calmly phasing through the dome, walking through it as easily as a normal person would enter the front door of their house.

"Not a single one of your weapons is effective, and my fighting skills are far superior to yours... you're just some pathetic child in a costume, aren't you? No training to speak of... fighting Robin would've been a much bigger challenge."

Faced with every single one of his weaknesses, Red X was terrified... but he still didn't show it, he wouldn't let Rouge think for a second that he felt vulnerable... but she didn't think it. She already knew.

He charged forward at Madame Rouge again, rearing back for a punch but immediately feeling a powerful blow to his chest... where it had been struck by Rouge's forehead with enough force to knock him onto his back. As he was falling, he tried desperately to recover... and managed to catch himself, landing on all fours and looking up at his opponent, who now had the perfect position to kick him in the face. She swung out her foot... which X was able to catch, stopping it about an inch away from his nose.

"_No... this isn't over... it's not...!" _X used Rouge's leg to pick himself up from the ground. At the same time, he lifted up his arm and put his palm squarely in Rouge's face, planning to use one of his weapons to hit her at point-blank range. "Take th-"

He never got the chance. At that moment, Rouge's fist plunged into X's stomach, and he let out a loud gasp, coughing up a small amount of blood and lurching forward.

"It is time to end this..."

As Red X continued to gasp and choke, he could feel something encircling his neck... it was Rouge's right arm, which had expanded into a long, stretchy band and was now beginning to tighten around the thief's throat, cutting off his oxygen. With the wind already knocked at him, the added force of the strangulation was much more than he could handle, and immediately, he began seeing bright spots in front of his eyes.

It was over.

"_Terra... I'm so... so..."_

Red X didn't even have time to apologize in his mind before he fell unconscious. As soon as Rouge sensed that her opponent was out, she released her grip on his neck and allowed his body to fall unceremoniously to the floor, his battered chest slowly moving up and down.

"Hardly a worthy opponent... which shows just how pathetic this city's criminals truly are."

Rouge knelt down beside the unconscious Red X, moving her hand over his neck and slowly sliding the mask off of his face. Once it had come off all the way, she set it down and began peeling the caked-up blood off of Sanza's battered face.

"Hmm... he's kind of cute, in a weak, worthless sort of way..."

Sanza Salazar was now completely at Madame Rouge's mercy.

O-O-O

As night began settling in over the desert, Terra stepped out of her cave and gazed up at the starry sky... then, she walked around to the edge of the rock and peered out across the sand at the skyline of Jump City. Smoke was pouring from several of the buildings, and even from a dozen miles away, Terra could see that something very bad was happening.

"I don't believe it..." said Terra to herself, wondering what could possibly be so horrible that the entire city was in jeopardy. She hadn't seen it this bad since the day that she and Slade had taken over... and her next thought was... _"this must be Slade's doing..."_

She knew that the Brotherhood of Evil shared some of the responsibility, but Slade was working with them, and in Terra's mind, the one most to blame for the terrible events in Jump City was him.

"_The Titans will take care of it..." _thought Terra, turning away from the smoldering city and starting back toward the entrance of the cave. _"I'd just mess everything up even worse..."_

Just before turning the corner of the large rock where her cave was carved, she took another look at the city... she heard a faint explosion, and saw another large plume of smoke beginning to form. And though she still didn't think that she would be able to help, something inside her began telling her that she had to go back to the city... because somewhere inside that city, fighting to stop the terrible things that were happening, was...

"_Sanza..."_

She turned around and began walking back toward the skyline, taking a few more steps and then stopping. Sanza hadn't come to visit her that day... maybe he was mad about what she'd said to him the day before, or maybe...

"_Maybe he's fighting... maybe he's fighting right now..."_

And maybe he was in danger...

"_His family's probably in danger too, if anything, he's fighting to protect them... what if Slade went after them?"_

Terra lifted her hand up to her heart, which was beating extremely rapidly... something was wrong. She didn't quite know what it was, but Sanza was in danger... that she knew for sure.

"_Is this that 'women's intuition' I've heard so much about? ...whatever it is, I have to go... I mean, I'm not gonna use my powers, I just have to make sure Sanza's all right!"_

Terra started off into a run, but when the skyline barely grew in the distance, the geomancer bowed her head and realized that, just this once, she'd have to use her powers again. Her hands started to glow, and the sand beneath her feet began to crystallize, hardening into a floating platform that slowly lifted up off of the ground, supporting Terra's weight.

"_All right, Sanza... wherever you are, here I come!"_

And with a burst of speed, the platform zoomed forward, carrying Terra into downtown Jump City in less than five minutes.

O-O-O

When Sanza awoke inside the storeroom of the warehouse, the first thing he felt was pain... tremendous, dull pain in every inch of his body... from his head, to his torso, to his arms and legs... everything ached. The second thing he noticed was something wrapped around him... or at least, parts of him, and whatever it was, it was pinning him down to the chair. He looked down, and realized two things. His Red X costume had been removed, leaving him in his street clothes... a brown t-shirt and a pair of ripped-up blue jeans. His black boots were gone, leaving him in a pair of white socks... and the other thing that he realized was that he was tied up with duct tape. His wrists were bound behind him, with layers of tape holding them together, and more layers pinning them to the back of the chair. More tape was wrapped around his chest, holding him even tighter to the chair... and his ankles were secured as well, parted and bound separately to the chair's two front legs.

"...great," muttered Sanza, who began struggling, though he quickly realized that in his weakened state, escape, or any form of movement for that matter, was completely impossible. _"What the hell do they want with me...?"_

Sanza was about to find out, as he could see Madame Rouge walking toward him from the direction of the nearby office. When she saw that he was awake, a smile formed on her face. She walked over to Sanza until she was right next to him... with him taped to the chair, there was nothing he could do.

"Are you afraid...?" asked Rouge condescendingly, bending over so that she and Sanza were eye to eye. She didn't see any fear, but she knew from the slight trembling he was doing that it was there... and her smile grew even bigger. "You should be... if I wanted to, I could do anything I wanted..."

"And you'd have done it already... right?"

"...I can't very well torture someone when they're unconscious and unable to feel it, can't I?"

The mention of the word 'torture' brought a chill to Sanza's spine, and for the first time, his eyes began to show fear... Rouge simply laughed, arching her body back upward until she stood at full height. She turned slightly away from Sanza, taking a few steps before focusing all of her attention right back on him.

"But I'm not going to torture you... and I'm not going to kill you either. I know someone else who would love to have a word with you..."

"_Slade..." _thought Sanza, as a bead of sweat made its way down his forehead, and he began to tremble even more. With another laugh, Rouge turned back toward Sanza, reaching over and placing a hand on his cheek. He tried to move his head away, and Rouge moved her hand with it, stroking her fingers gently across his skin.

"But until then, try to make yourself comfortable..." She lifted her hand from Sanza's face and moved over to the right side of the chair. Lying on the floor next to it was the half-used roll of tape that Rouge had used to secure Sanza. "And enjoy what I'm sure will be some of the last moments of your pathetic life."

As Rouge began to peel another strip of tape from the roll, Sanza resumed his struggles... if Slade was coming, he knew he was in serious trouble... and as futile as his efforts might be, he had to try and escape before Slade showed up.

"You bitch..." Sanza spat, staring up into Rouge's eyes as he tried flexing his wrists within the tape that bound them. "You'll get yours... if not from me, then from someone else..."

Rouge leaned forward, her fingers pressing a single strip of tape tightly over Sanza's lips, sealing them shut. She stroked her fingers across the edges of the tape several times to make sure it was secure as Sanza shouted several muffled protests from beneath it.

"Someone else? You don't mean that cowardly Terra girl, do you?"

"_Fuck you!" _screamed Sanza through the tape, as loudly as he could. He began struggling again as Rouge casually stretched out another strip of tape from the roll, tearing it off and dangling it from one of her fingers as she raised her other hand and slapped Sanza cruelly across the face. "Mmm...!"

"I don't care if she's quit the Titans or not... I'm going to find her, and I'm going to kill her... and I promise to make her suffer."

Sanza's eyes went wide, and he let out another loud scream, a scream that was a mixture of rage and terror... and he struggled hard enough that bruises began to form at the areas where the tape bound his limbs. As he struggled, Rouge bent down and looked him once more in the eyes, cupping his chin firmly in her hands and forcing him to look at her.

"I'll tell her that she'll see you in hell... I'll tell her how much you're going to suffer... so she won't feel alone as she takes her last breath."

Rouge released Sanza's chin, and he bowed his head, breathing heavily through his nose as tears began forming in his eyes.

"_Terra... no... and I won't even be able to protect her... if she dies, it'll be my fault!"_

Rouge lifted Sanza's head up so that she could press another strip of tape over his face, this time covering up his eyes, blinding Sanza in less than an instant.

"The next thing you see will be Slade... just before what I'm sure will be his revenge on you for all the disobedience you've given him. Goodbye, Sanza... at least you can take comfort in knowing that you won't live to see a world controlled by the Brotherhood of Evil."

Sanza bowed his head once more as Rouge casually strolled out of the building, her laughs being the last thing that he heard... they echoed in his ears as he choked out a single, muffed sob.

"_Terra... I... I won't let you die... I won't!"_

He struggled fiercely, ignoring the agonizing pain in his arms and legs as he fought against the tape holding him down... but though he struggled, he was still helpless... helpless and confined, condemned to a world of forced silence and darkness.

O-O-O

Uh oh, Sanza's in serious trouble now... and so, it seems, is Terra... and the entire city! The crap has really hit the fan, and the battle's only just begun... what will become of the Teen Titans and the heroes who have joined them? What will happen when Jericho's darkest secret is revealed? What will happen between Jinx and Kid Flash? And what will happen to Maddy, Maria, Rob, Marcy, Steve, and Cleo? All will be answered in the next exciting chapter!


	12. From Bad To Worse

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

The chaos that was rapidly descending on Jump City played out on dozens of screens mounted on the wall of a room deep within the Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters... and there, watching all the chaos play out while at the same time not lifting even a finger to either help or hinder it was Slade, the man who had been brought in to handle Titans West... but now, was just watching their individual battles on five of the screens, not caring whether they won or lost.

He had far different matters to attend to... out of all the heroes who'd been brought to the city to deal with the Brotherhood threat, he never thought that his own son would be among them.

"_Joseph... you were never supposed to come here... you knew I was involved in this, is that why you aligned yourself with the Titans? To stop me?"_

As Slade continued to watch the battles of his son and the other assembled heroes, Madame Rouge entered the room... though she'd just concluded a fierce battle with Red X, she was both unscathed and energized... it was if she'd never fought a battle at all.

"I have some good news, I see that you are currently busy, but I think you will enjoy hearing this," said Rouge, her pride clearly evident as she prepared to inform Slade about Red X's capture. The criminal mastermind said nothing, staring at the screens with his hands held behind his back, his eyes focused on the screen on which his son was displayed. "...do you wish to hear what I have to say, or not?"

"Speak," Slade replied quietly.

"I have captured the boy Sanza... better known as the thief Red X. You've told me you wanted to deal with him, well... he is now completely helpless, I will present him to you for you to do with as you please."

Slade did not react to this information, though he was glad to know that X had been taken care of... but with his son present in the city, he had much more important matters to deal with. It had been several years since the last time he and his son had spoken... which, coincidentally, had been the last time his son had spoken at all, at least with his own voice.

"I'm not interested right now," said Slade, turning toward Rouge and speaking in a neutral tone... one that indicated that while he appreciated Rouge's capture of his rebellious apprentice prospect Sanza, it would be quite some time before this information would prove to be very useful to him.

"...what do you mean, this is Sanza, this is the boy who constantly refused to become your apprentice... but now that he is at our mercy, you can do anything you want... you can threaten him, you can torture him-"

"And so can you," Slade stated, walking past Rouge toward the front of the room. "I will pay Sanza a visit later... right now, there's someone else I need to see."

And with that, Slade was gone, leaving a very annoyed Rouge alone with the monitors displaying the attacks on Jump City. After quietly cursing to herself, Rouge followed Slade out the door, going out into the hallway and thinking for a moment. Slade had a point... with Sanza still helpless back at the warehouse, Rouge could do anything she wanted to him... or perhaps, use him for other, more sinister purposes.

"_This gives me the perfect opportunity to crush that pathetic earth-moving girl..." _thought Rouge, a devilish smile slowly appearing on her face. _"I will lure her in the same way I lured in the boy... though this time, the bait will be real..."_

O-O-O

Oblivious to the fact that Sanza had been captured, Terra rode into the city on a small platform of crystallized sand, soaring just above the rooftops of the city's buildings. As she made her way closer and closer to the downtown area, she could see just how much danger Jump City was in... explosions, smoke, fire, screams... and occasionally, she could even see a fight occurring between a superpowered hero and one of the villains that the Brotherhood had recruited to conquer the city. She didn't watch the battles for long, obscuring herself from view by flying through clouds of smoke... she felt guilty knowing that there was a battle going on that she was missing... but at the same time, she tried to reassure herself with the knowledge that she'd be doing more harm than good if she interfered.

"_I just came here to help Sanza... no one else... Slade's behind all of this, if he sees me..."_

Terra crossed into Sanza's neighborhood, floating over its rows of three-story apartments and trying to pick out the street where he lived. With every passing second, she could sense more and more that her boyfriend was in danger... but just as she began to fear the worst, she saw him, standing in the middle of the street and jumping up and down.

"Terra!" shouted Sanza, waving up at her as her platform soared overhead. "I'm down here... hurry!"

As Terra slowed down, she had no idea that this boy whom she believed to be Sanza was actually Madame Rouge, who had assumed his form in order to lure Terra into a trap... one that she would not be able to escape. A few seconds later, the blonde landed in the street and jumped off of her floating platform, running over to the boy whom she thought was Sanza and wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"Oh my gosh, Sanza... I was so worried about you, when you didn't come today I thought-"

"It's all right now, Terra... but there's some really intense stuff going down. My family's safe, I made sure that they knew what was going on... and for the past hour or so, I've been helping the Titans fight off some of these bad guys."

But immediately, Terra realized something very strange with 'Sanza''s statement. He was dressed in a black t-shirt, a denim jacket, and a pair of white cargo pants... and when she took a brief look down the front of his shirt, she was unable to see his Red X suit underneath.

"_Maybe when he went back to his apartment, he changed... but the city's still under attack, why would he be out of uniform now?" _thought Terra, briefly raising an eyebrow. "Um... don't you think we should go back to your apartment and get your Red X stuff? You might need it..."

"Oh..." Realizing her mistake, Madame Rouge quickly thought up a cover story, a reason why Sanza wouldn't be wearing his Red X suit at the moment. "Well, I know how you don't want to fight anymore, so... I changed out of my suit so we could just talk. It's all right, I know the Titans and the others are taking care of everything, so... wanna walk around the city and discuss whatever's on your mind? I know all the safe areas of the city, we won't even go _near _a bad guy."

Though the explanation was a bit suspect, Terra bought it... after yesterday's argument, she realized that Sanza would be doing anything he could to keep fighting villains from being a subject of conversation.

"...that's so sweet of you," said Terra, leaning in and giving her impostor boyfriend a brief kiss on the cheek. "But... I wouldn't have minded you wearing your suit underneath your clothes, I mean... anything could happen."

The two began to engage in small talk, and Terra still had no idea that she wasn't conversing with Sanza... that it was Madame Rouge in disguise, and that both she and Sanza were in serious danger. As they spoke, the two got closer and closer to the warehouse where the real Sanza was imprisoned... and Rouge's plan got closer and closer to completion.

"_I will beat this girl to within an inch of her life... then, I will remove Sanza's blindfold and extinguish his beloved Terra's life right in front of him! It will cause him such misery and agony... it will completely break him... and then he will have no choice but to submit to Slade..."_

O-O-O

A pair of powerful hands slammed Robin's back into a large, metallic rack on which dozens of basketballs had been placed. The force of the impact caused the rack to fall off of its hinges, spilling the balls out onto the floor and causing the Boy Wonder to let out a loud, painful scream.

The hands belonged to Mammoth, who, along with Gizmo, had ambushed Robin as he had responded to a distress call at Wang's Sporting Goods, Jump City's largest sports emporium. The building was now completely devoid of people, save for Robin and his two H.I.V.E. opponents.

"That's right, little birdy... squirm!" shouted Mammoth, before letting out a loud, boisterous laugh.

"Yeah, ya stupid buttwaster, it's time for you to die!" Gizmo added, holding up a small remote control in his hands and pressing a button that caused hundreds of tiny robots on the floor to begin marching over to Robin and Mammoth.

"I don't know what's worse, your insults, or Mammoth's breath," Robin said, before kicking Mammoth hard in the face and knocking the large criminal back several steps. His foot landed on one of the dislodged basketballs, and this caused him to fly up into the air, coming down hard on much of Gizmo's robotic army.

"HEY!" screamed Gizmo, watching in horror as half of his robots were instantly crushed beneath his teammate's weight. "We're supposed to be working together!"

Robin didn't waste any time listening to the dissent amongst his opponents. He took out his bo staff and charged forward, swinging it into Gizmo's remaining robots and destroying them all in one powerful maneuver. He then leapt into the air, aiming a flying kick right at Gizmo's face. Mammoth reached up and grabbed Robin's ankle in mid-air, standing up and then swinging Robin down hard into the floor. The blow was nearly powerful enough to knock the teenage crimefighter out, and by the time Robin began to recover, he was lying on the floor in a daze as Gizmo and Mammoth stood over him like vultures.

"_Damn... every time I attack one of them, the other has a free shot..." _thought Robin, wearily trying to pick himself up off of the ground. _"I need to find some way to even the odds!"_

Mammoth bent over and picked Robin up by his collar, holding him high in the air and pulling back his fist to strike a brutal blow against his opponent's face. Robin struggled fiercely in Mammoth's grasp, closing his eyes as the punch came in.

But suddenly, Mammoth found himself punching right through the air... until finally, his fist made contact with a glass display case. He smashed through the glass, sustaining several small, painful cuts... while a few feet away, Robin was on one knee, wondering what had happened. He looked up and immediately gasped... Kid Flash had come to his rescue.

"Hey... you're Robin, right? Sorry I haven't shown up at the Tower to train with you guys, I've been sort of in a rush all week... this crazy girl with pink hair has been chasing me all over the city, and I figured your place would be the first place she'd look, so-"

"I'm just glad to see you now," said Robin, turning his attention back to Gizmo and Mammoth. Normally, he'd have expected to see the two of them angry at the fact that the odds were now evened up... but instead, both H.I.V.E. members were smiling. "...what the heck are you so happy about?"

Just then, the club of a titanium driver slammed into the top of Kid Flash's head, knocking him immediately unconscious. Robin turned around and immediately locked eyes with Jinx, who was holding a golf club in her hands.

"Crazy, am I?" said Jinx, a scowl on her face as she held the golf club menacingly in her hands. "Crazy like someone who's about to become Madame Rouge's favorite..."

"You won't be _anyone's _favorite, except maybe the prison warden's," said Robin, going into a fighting stance and locking eyes with Jinx. "I'm about to take you down..."

But Robin had forgotten about Mammoth and Gizmo, who now were standing right behind him... he would soon get a _very _forceful reminder. Before Robin could even through a punch at Jinx, Mammoth's arms were locked tightly around his own, lifting the Titan leader up several feet into the air and putting him in a painful full-nelson hold. Robin struggled as much as he could, but Mammoth's locked fingers were far too strong, putting an incredible amount of pressure on the Boy Wonder's neck and upper body.

"_I can't believe it," _thought Robin, his best kicks slamming harmlessly into Mammoth's muscular chest. _"I'm not going to let them capture me, I can't...!!"_

"Ohhhh... what was that about taking us down? I don't _think_ so," said Jinx, gesturing for Gizmo to secure the unconscious Kid Flash. "Now, General Immortus told us to kill you, but... I have other plans in mind, at least for Quicky McGee down there... I'm taking him to Madame Rouge personally, and as for you... as leader of the Teen Titans, you'll make an _excellent _addition to the H.I.V.E.'s trophy room... properly frozen, of course."

The last thing that Robin heard before blacking out was Jinx's loud, confident laughter.

O-O-O

The loud explosion that had caused dozens of students, as well as Steve and Cleo, to flee the cafeteria had also shaken Rob and Marcy clear out of their Dance Dance Revolution game... partially because the blast had cut off the school's electricity.

"What the hell was _that_?" shouted Rob, nearly slipping on the plastic dance pad that he had been using as a game controller and turning to Marcy, who had an expression of fear and disbelief on her face. "You don't think it's... terrorists, do you?"

"I'm not sticking around to find out... come on!!!" Marcy replied loudly, taking Rob's hand and running with him, along with several other students, out of the room and down a long, crowded hallway. _"This isn't good... we're gonna get trampled!"_

Coming to a stop just before exiting the room and becoming part of the rush, Marcy tugged at her boyfriend's hand and led him toward a series of windows on the other side of the room.

"We can't escape through the hallway without getting crushed, we need to smash one of these windows!" Marcy said frantically, pointing toward several chairs that had been stacked up against the wall. "Grab one of those and let's get out of here, before-"

Another explosion, smaller than the first but still loud enough to rock the room, shook both Rob and Marcy to their knees. The explosion had come from the far wall, where a large dry erase board had once been mounted... now, only a large hole remained in its place, and through it were storming more than a dozen Sladebots, each of them holding up small laser guns and pointing them at Sanza's two friends.

"...Marcy, I think we'd better just take our chances in the hallway," Rob nervously suggested, taking his girlfriend by the hand and dragging her toward the large door leading out of the room.

Nearby, Cleo, who was still too stunned to move, was being gently pulled along by Steve. He was leading her down the hallway, in the opposite direction which most of the students were fleeing... because they knew that at the end of the hallway was a dead end... around the corner were a few classrooms and a janitor's closet, but nothing else... and as they were running, they were being followed by several Sladebots and men in prison uniforms.

"Cleo, we've got to move... if we don't, we're toast..."

But try as he might to encourage her, Steve was unable to encourage all the terrible memories out of Cleo's mind... and her fears were only intensified by a few of the men that she recognized among the group of dangerous criminals invading the school.

"I... I know that guy from the news..." whispered Cleo, pointing at one of the men in prison uniforms as she and Steve turned the corner into the dead-end hallway. "He's... he's a serial rapist... he's sick... he's violent... he's out of his mind...!"

"He's not going to get us, Cleo, none of these guys are..." Steve replied, pulling Cleo toward the janitor's closet at the end of the hallway. "We're locking ourselves in the closet... there's chemicals in there we can use to fight these guys off..."

"...what about the robots? Can we fight _them _off with chemicals?"

"We can fight them off with water... at least that's how they do it in the movies..."

Without looking back to see if he and Cleo were still being followed, Steve opened the closet door and helped Cleo inside, before going in himself and closing the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, Cleo began sobbing violently, shrieking loudly and swinging her fists as furiously as she could, pounding Steve's chest and stomach over and over.

"No... DON'T TOUCH ME! GET AWAY, NO...!!!"

But it wasn't Steve that Cleo was scared of... in the darkness, her mind could focus only on her horrific past... and every single moment of what she suffered at the hands of Lonnie Jarvin was now replaying itself in her head.

Now, it seemed, she was about to relive her worst nightmares all over again...

O-O-O

For several minutes, Terra walked with the impostor Sanza, conversing with him as if nothing was wrong... which began to seem like something _was_ wrong. The subject of the conversation had not drifted once to the argument that the two had had the previous night... and while Terra was somewhat relieved at that, part of her began to wonder why Sanza hadn't at least wanted to _apologize _to her for it... instead, he just talked to her as if nothing had happened, letting her set the pace of the conversation and choose what topics the two of them spoke about.

This wasn't like Sanza at all.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay...?" asked Terra, raising an eyebrow and stopping in front of a tall brick building. Her right hand was on her hip, and to Rouge, it set off a red flag...

"_She's beginning to catch on... much earlier than I'd hoped. _Oh... I'm just worried about my family..."

"But you said they were safe," Terra stated, beginning to worry a bit more about exactly what Sanza was thinking. She didn't suspect an impostor, not at all... but instead, wondered if perhaps Sanza wasn't being entirely honest with her about what was going on... "Sanza, you haven't spent this entire night looking for me, have you?"

The impostor Sanza's eyes widened a bit, as Rouge was clearly puzzled with Terra's question. What did she mean by that...?

"...uh... well, yeah, actually, I... I sort of... I mean... _what am I worried about, I could crush this girl right now if I wanted to! I just want to get a bit closer to where I'm holding Sanza... that way I don't have to drag her half a mile..."_

Rouge was very familiar with using her skills as a shapeshifter to trick heroes into believing she was one of them... when she knew the mission, she could easily assume the tone of whoever she needed to impersonate, and had all the proper details that she needed to be convincing. She had _no _experience with romantic dialogue, and had no idea of what Terra and Sanza had been talking to each other about, except from what she was able to glean during their discussion six days ago, right after she'd left the team. After that, she'd restricted all of her spying to Sanza... names of his family members, his friends... but right now, she had no idea what Terra expected of her, and she knew the charade was about to come to an end.

"But you told me you were fighting bad guys! I was really worried about you, and I didn't want you fighting, but... you told me you were going to do everything you could to help fight Slade, and instead, you spent the entire night looking for me? While the whole city... even your family, was in danger?"

Terra was angry... _this _wasn't the Sanza she knew. Sure, she knew Sanza was a little bit selfish... but she also knew that he'd take steps to make sure the people he loved were safe before coming to visit her. And if, for some reason, he didn't, at least he wouldn't lie to her about it. He was honest with her about _everything_.

"...of course I'd come looking for you first," replied Rouge, trying to keep up the disguise as best she could. "I love you, Terra..."

Now Terra began to suspect that she wasn't speaking to Sanza... in the week they'd been a couple, he'd never just come out and said he loved her... at least not _that _quickly, not without some great deal of emotion behind it. The way he was saying it now was just too casual... and a bit pathetic, not like Sanza at all.

"_...okay, that's _definitely _not how Sanza would respond... something here is _very _wrong," _thought Terra, taking a step back and trying to remember everything Beast Boy had told her about the Brotherhood of Evil. _"Isn't one of them like a shapeshifter or something?"_

The moment that Terra stepped back, Rouge could sense that the jig was definitely up. The way the blonde was reacting, it was almost as if... she was afraid, and the way she was acting now, she was deep in thought... quite possibly considering that she could be talking to an impostor.

"_I can't take any chances," _thought Madame Rouge, _"if I'm going to strike, I have to do it right n-"_

Then, with incredible force, Terra's foot slammed into Rouge's groin. The hardened toe of the boot she was wearing intensified the blow, and the impostor immediately went down... and instinctively transformed back to normal in an effort to alleviate the intense pain. Now a female, the blow was still painful... but not to the point that it would be completely intolerable.

Terra had taken quite the gamble with her move... had she really been speaking to Sanza, she'd have a _lot _to explain for... but instead, her suspicions were confirmed in an instant. Seeing Sanza transform into Madame Rouge right before her eyes, Terra let out a horrified gasp... then raised both of her hands, pointing them at the downed Rouge and narrowing her eyes in rage.

"Where's Sanza?! What have you done with him?"

Laughing quietly to herself, Madame Rouge stood up and brushed herself off with her right hand, her left still placed over the afflicted area that Terra had just kicked.

"If you want him, little girl... come find him."

Rouge then phased through the brick wall to her left, leaving Terra standing alone on the sidewalk, intensely worried about her boyfriend's fate.

"I don't have time for this!" shouted Terra, using her powers to rip a large section of bricks from the wall through which Rouge had just phased. She ran into the building and could see the black-haired woman phasing through another wall some distance away. _"I can't let her get away... she knows where Sanza is... at least, I hope she knows... she _has _to!"_

The chase was on.

O-O-O

When Kole and Gnarrk arrived at the Salazars' apartment, they emerged into the kitchen from the second floor fire escape and found an empty, silent room... the electricity had gone out, leaving the building entirely in the dark, and Maddy and Maria nowhere to be found.

"Maria? Maddy?!" Kole called out, entering the living room and then going into the adjacent hallway with Gnarrk following close behind her. She checked the bathroom, then Maria's bedroom... then her office. No sign of the woman or her child could be found. _"Oh no... someone must have taken them..."_

Then, from upstairs, a loud scream could be heard. Kole and Gnarrk let out simultaneous gasps, and Kole ran over to the stairs, stopping her caveman friend as he started to make his way up.

"Stay down here..." said Kole, "and if anyone besides Maria or Maddy tries to come down, knock them out."

Gnarrk nodded in the affirmative, and the pink-haired girl made her way slowly up the stairs, heading toward the room from which she'd heard the scream... Maddy's bedroom.

"_If someone's hurting Maddy in here... I... I'll make them pay..." _thought Kole, placing her hand on the doorknob and slowly turning it... as she did, she noticed that her fingers were violently trembling. _"Maybe I should've had Gnarrk come up here with me..."_

When Kole opened the door, she could see several men in red costumes inside, attacking someone who was standing in the corner... several other men in similar costumes were lying unconscious on the ground, having already been knocked out by their intended victim.

"Aw, c'mon, pretty lady... I don't wanna hurt ya, I just wanna rassle ya!" said Billy Numerous, as he and five of his clones approached a sweat-drenched Maria, who was frantically swinging her broom at them as they advanced. "Damn, you're a really feisty one..."

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, YOU BASTARDS!" shrieked Maria, using her broom like a bo staff to knock back two of the clones. As soon as she did, two more wrapped their hands tightly around the broom and began to yank it out of her hands. "No! Get back!"

Kole let out a loud gasp, realizing that her new friend's mother was about to be in serious trouble... and also realizing that Maddy was nowhere to be found. Still, right now, Maria needed help... especially as the two Billy Numerous clones finally managed to take the broom away from her. They tossed it behind them, and though Maria was able to kick one of them away, the two that were left, along with the original Billy, were able to tackle her to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" shouted Kole, diving into the crowd of Billies and using a few well-placed kicks to knock all of them away, allowing her a few brief moments in the corner with Maria. "Maria, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, dear," gasped Maria, wiping a thin stream of blood from her forehead before Kole could see it and slowly standing up, protectively wrapping her arms around the pink-haired girl as Billy and several of his clones slowly rose to their feet. "It's not me that needs help, it's Maddy, she's-"

"Right now, I have to help you... how many pounds can you lift?"

The question was completely out of left field to Maria, who, while familiar with Kole's abilities, wasn't quite able to put two and two together to see what her would-be savior was trying to get at. Before she could answer, Kole straightened her body out as best as she could and transformed her body into diamond, instantly forming a fifty-six inch club that Maria could use to bash the Billies into submission... that is, if she was strong enough.

"I... I see..." said Maria quietly, watching at Billy and his clones slowly advanced on her again. _"This might be a bit difficult, but..."_

Bending over, Maria wrapped her hands around Kole's legs and put all of her effort into lifting the transformed girl off of the ground... she strained and struggled, but with some effort, was able to lift Kole high enough to use for the purpose which she'd intended... and just in the nick of time.

"Awww, is the cute little lady tryin' ta swing that big, heavy diamond club at us?" Billy taunted, laughing along with his fellow clones. "I'm surprised you can even lift that thing, let alone-"

With one powerful swing, Maria brought all six Billies down, knocking them down and out in less than a second. The follow-through was nearly wide enough to slam into Maddy's dresser drawer, but Maria managed to stop herself in time, letting out a cry of exasperation and dropping the frozen Kole quickly to the ground before falling to her knees, her entire body racked with pain. Kole detransformed and stood up, walking over to Maria and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"You did it...! I'm really proud of you..." said Kole, helping Maria to her feet as the two parted from their embrace.

"It was... mostly you," Maria replied graciously, knowing that if Kole hadn't shown up, she'd have likely been captured... or worse. Immediately, however, her relief gave way to fear... her daughter was still in danger. "Kole, Maddy's on the roof... one of the others who came chased her up there... I don't know what they want with her, but-"

"Don't worry, Maria... Gnarrk and I will save Maddy, I promise!"

Kole rushed out of the room, leaving Maria alone with the unconscious Billy Numerous, whose clones had all merged back into his body. The angry Maria advanced toward Billy, kneeling down next to him and staring right into his closed eyes.

"Now," Maria spat, looking down at Billy with her fists tightly clenched, "as for you..."

O-O-O

When Kole emerged onto the roof of the Salazars' apartment building, she could immediately see Maddy, a frightened look on her face as she leapt back and forth, barely dodging the bursts of energy that the villain Mad Mod was firing at her.

"Stop that, you little blighter...! You're just going to wear yourself out before I can transport you to my nightmare world... then you'll really be in trouble!"

As Maddy continued dodging Mad Mod's blasts, she could see Kole running rapidly toward her.

"Kole...! Stay back, he'll get you too!"

But Kole ignored Maddy's warning, running toward Mad Mod with her fist raised, preparing to throw a punch right at the British villain's head. With little effort, Mod spun out of the way, causing Kole to trip and fall flat on her face at Maddy's feet. Maddy let out a loud gasp as she watched Kole hit the ground and let out a painful scream.

"Kole, no...!"

"Maddy, get out of here... I'll distract him, you and your mom have to leave!"

"You're all leaving, my little duckies!" Mad Mod said menacingly, dancing his way over to Kole and Maddy and pointing the jewel at the end of his cane right at the two girls. "You're going on a one-way trip to a world from which you'll never return!"

As Mad Mod began laughing hysterically, Kole stood up and pulled Maddy to the ground. This caught Maddy by surprise, and she was unable to resist as Kole pulled her off her feet, then pulled Maddy close and looked right into her eyes.

"I want you to curl up as tightly as you can, I'm going to wrap myself around you so Mod can't hit you with his attacks... you have to trust me, okay?"

"But... but if I do that, then-" Maddy knew exactly what would happen, and she began rapidly shaking her head, not wanting to allow her new best friend to be totally exposed to Mad Mod's attacks.

"It's okay, when I crystallize, his attacks should bounce right off of me... we don't have much time, we have to do this now!"

"But... but..." Maddy was almost at the point of tears, and it was very clear to Kole that she would have to force her friend's cooperation. Kole crawled on top of Maddy and scrunched up as much as she could, forcing both girls into a tight, ball-like fetal position. As Maddy tried to get out of Kole's grasp, Kole crystallized, placing her body on top of Maddy's in a protective cocoon and holding both of them in place. Mad Mod stepped back slightly, raising his eyebrow and wondering exactly what had just happened.

"She's tryin' to protect her friend, 'eh? Well, we'll see just how long THAT lasts!"

And then, Mad Mod began to bombard Kole's crystallized body with energy blasts. Trapped underneath, all that Maddy could do was tremble as the blasts bounced off of Kole's back... and she began to wonder just how long her friend's protection would be able to last.

O-O-O

After several minutes of chasing Madame Rouge, Terra was alone on a deserted street, seeing no signs of the black-haired villainess who'd tried to trick her by impersonating Sanza. Her rage and frustration building, Terra clenched her fists tightly and began looking around for any signs of Rouge.

"_Where could she have gone to... and where could she be keeping Sanza?"_

Of course, Sanza didn't have to be captured... he could be dead somewhere, but that was a possibility that Terra refused to entertain, because every time she even thought of it, she became sick to her stomach. Instead, she continued to look around, walking down the sidewalk until she saw a large, white warehouse with its front door propped slightly open. She stopped in front of the door for a moment and stared at it, looking down and seeing a small rock trapped between the door and its frame...

"_That's strange... with everything that's going on, why would someone go out of their way to keep this door open? Unless..."_

But if Rouge wanted her to come in the building, and signaled that by leaving such an obvious sign, it was clear that by entering, Terra was walking into a trap.

She didn't care.

"_Sanza... please, please be okay..." _

And without taking the slightest bit of caution, Terra opened the door and stepped into the warehouse.

O-O-O

For nearly an hour, Sanza had seen nothing but total darkness, his eyes sealed shut by the strip of duct tape pressed tightly down over them. He'd struggled to get free, knowing that his captor Madame Rouge had plans for his beloved Terra... horrible plans that likely involved her suffering even more than he was.

And he also knew that the next person that he was likely to see once the tape was finally removed from his eyes was Slade... and that his suffering had only just begun. But for all of Sanza's struggling, all he'd managed to accomplish was loosening the tape around his wrists just a little bit... while cutting and severely bruising the area around them. His struggles had caused even more pain to his already battered body, to the point where now, he was nearly numb, feeling just a dull ache in his arms, legs, and torso...which simply allowed him to struggle even more.

He'd barely even thought of his friends at his school, the very attack he'd been responding to in the first place when Rouge had shown up. At the moment that she arrived, he was contemplating whether he should go to the school to help his friends, or go to the cave to see Terra... and he'd been leaning toward the more selfish of the two decisions.

"_Maybe this is what I get for thinking of myself more than my friends..." _thought Sanza, letting out a muffled cry of frustration as he tugged unsuccessfully at his bonds. _"Maybe this is what I get for everything... stealing the Red X suit, coming after the Titans, not being able to protect Terra..."_

As Sanza began hearing faint footsteps, he struggled harder and harder. He was sure that it was either Rouge or Slade... if it was Rouge, she was likely coming to report Terra's death... if it was Slade, he was likely coming to beat Sanza to death... either way, as the footsteps got louder and closer, he began trembling more and more, and his grunts and screams grew louder as he thrashed violently in a desperate attempt to free himself.

Finally, he could hear that whoever was coming was now in the storeroom, and still getting closer... the footsteps got quicker and quicker, as if whoever was coming was now running his way... and just as he let out another loud, muffled cry, he heard a voice... a sweet, soft, reassuring voice... he heard Terra.

"Sanza... oh my god, Sanza, are you okay?"

The voice was soon accompanied by bright light as a soft hand peeled the strip of tape from Sanza's eyes... and there, staring down at him, was Terra.

"_No... it can't be... it's got to be Rouge, trying to play a trick on me...!" _Sanza pushed himself back against the chair, his eyes widening in fear as Terra knelt down in front of him and reached over toward his face. "Mmmm! MMMM!"

"Sanza, it's me, it's not Rouge... I promise... it's me..." She gently placed both of her hands on either side of Sanza's face, her voice still soft as ever, almost motherly in tone as she brushed one of her hands through Sanza's hair. "It's okay... I'm here... I'm..."

The moment Terra's soft hands touched Sanza's skin, he knew it was her... not Madame Rouge playing one of her vicious mind games, but Terra... the girl Sanza loved with all of his heart, the girl he thought he'd never see again... her eyes wide and almost filling with tears.

Terra was both horrified and saddened to see Sanza in this state, his face bruised, his eyes more terrified than she'd ever seen them before... and another pang of guilt hit her, one that gnawed at her heart, one that told her that if she hadn't left the team in the first place, Sanza never would've been captured... but she could rectify some of that right now. She gently peeled the tape away from Sanza's lips, then wrapped her arms tightly around his body, her head leaning on her shoulder and her face rubbing gently against his.

"Sanza... I'm so sorry I let this happen..." said Terra quietly, almost sobbing as she started to speak.

"I'm just glad... I'm just glad you're here, and you're safe..."

After several seconds, Terra parted from Sanza, standing up and looking him over.

"They've taped you up pretty good," Terra observed, "but I'll get you out of this, and then-"

Sanza's expression changed from relieved to horrified. Madame Rouge had just entered the room, and was slowly approaching Terra from behind. The trap had been laid, and now, Rouge was getting ready to spring it... Sanza knew he only had seconds to warn Terra.

"TERRA, LOOK OUT!"

The blonde geomancer spun around, just in time for Rouge's outstretched fists to slam into her chest. Her arms continued to expand, pushing Terra forward at incredible speed until the girl slammed into the far wall, cracking it in several places and causing Terra to let out a loud scream of pain.

"I was not intending to allow you to spend so much time with Sanza, but I decided that I'd like to hear his screams as I extinguish the life from your pathetic body..."

Before Terra could even slump to the ground, Rouge's hands wrapped tightly around her wrists, pushing and holding her up against the wall. Rouge walked around Sanza and continued moving forward, her arms shortening as she advanced toward the wall, though her hands still kept their deadly grip, pinning Terra in place until Rouge was finally at the appropriate distance to lift up her leg and place her foot right against Terra's throat.

"TERRA! NO!" shouted Sanza, once again resuming his struggles as he looked behind the chair he was still bound to, watching helplessly as Madame Rouge began to choke the life out of the girl who was trying to save him. _"I have to help her... I can't let Rouge kill her!"_

But his struggles were just as futile as Terra's, who found herself unable to wrench her wrists out of Rouge's mighty grasp. She tried desperately to catch her breath, but the pressure that Rouge's heel was placing on her windpipe was far too much, and she quickly found herself running out of air.

"Soon, it will be all over... you _and _your precious Sanza will die... and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can't save yourself, and you can't save him."

Terra clenched her fists, narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth. She struggled even more, looking past Rouge and over at Sanza, who was fighting just as fiercely and as determinedly as she was, both of them trying to get free to help the other.

In that moment, she could see just how much he cared about her... and could feel her powers intensifying within her body, until her hair began to float upward, sifting around her head as a yellow aura of energy began forming around her... then, her eyes lit up, shining so brightly that Rouge was temporarily blinded.

"Yes... I... CAN!" Terra screamed, forming a tall pillar of stone beneath Rouge's feet and sending her flying backwards. Her grip on Terra's wrists loosened, and her foot fell from Terra's neck, causing the girl to fall to the ground on her knees. As Rouge began to recover, Terra lifted up her hands and caused a slab of stone to lift up from the ground. She slammed it into Rouge, who put her hands up in an effort to protect herself, only to have the slab slam into her and carry her all the way back into the wall at the other side of the room, smashing her against it.

"_Whoa, that was impressive!" _thought Sanza, watching as Madame Rouge fell groaning into a pile of rubble. Terra quickly ran over to him, kneeling down behind Sanza's chair and beginning to work on peeling away the tape around his wrists.

"I'm getting you out of here," said Terra, paying so much attention to watching Sanza that she didn't see Rouge quickly recover and begin expanding one of her arms. "Stupid tape... my fingernails aren't long enough to... hold on, I'll get it..."

"Terra!"

Terra looked up from what she was doing, watching as Rouge's stretched-out right arm flipped up at her like a whip, her hand hitting Terra right in the chin and knocking her up into the air. As she came up from the ground, Terra's arms were pinned to her sides by Rouge's left arm, which wrapped around them, then flung the captured Titan into the wall at the right side of the room, sending up a huge cloud of dust and debris.

"You should pay more attention to me instead of your pathetic boyfriend," said Rouge coldly, retracting her arms and walking over to Terra, who was leaning up against the section of wall just below the large hole that Rouge's attack had made. By the time Terra looked up, Rouge kicked her squarely in the face, knocking her all the way through the wall and into the adjacent corridor. She then turned to Sanza, who had resumed struggling, realizing that Terra might not fare any better against Rouge than he did... and if she was going to have any chance at all, he was going to have to get free, find his suit, and save her. "And as for you, I'll be back shortly... this won't take long."

Rouge stepped through the hole in the wall, disappearing from Sanza's view... and leaving him by himself once more.

O-O-O

Jump City International Airport was completely deserted, but something still flew overhead... namely, Starfire, who was being followed by a horde of gigantic flying moths. Standing on the lead moth was Kitten, who was laughing and shouting orders as the mutant bugs fired multiple laser blasts at the Tamaranian girl.

"_When I came here to fight Kitten, I did not expect her to be accompanied by a horde of mutated insect creatures!" _thought Starfire, flying backwards so she could face the moths and fling Starbolts and eye lasers at them to counter their attacks. The energy blasts sent a few of the moths back, but this only caused more to fly up and take their places, putting Starfire constantly on the defensive.

"Daddy grew two dozen giant moths just for me... and once you're out of the picture, I'll have Robbie-poo all to myself!" Kitten squealed, laughing hysterically as her army of moths continued to bombard Starfire with laser fire. Despite her best efforts at dodging, Starfire sustained several hits... and finally, one of those hits caused her to go down. She let out a scream and plummeted to the ground below, where Kitten and her moths rapidly descended, surrounding Starfire and giving her no way out.

"_I cannot lose... I will not surrender!" _With her eyes aglow, Starfire threw dozens of Starbolts at the creatures around her, flinging the energy blasts in all directions and keeping her opponents at bay... for a little while. "Kitten, you will pay for your actions, and-"

"Shut up!" screamed Kitten, lashing her whip around Starfire's throat and pulling as hard as she could, tightening its hold on her neck and bringing the Tamaranian girl to her knees. This stopped her flurry of Starbolts, and left her completely open... and it was then that all of the mutant moths bombarded Starfire at once, blasting her with lasers until she could no longer be seen... until she had disappeared completely in a cloud of smoke and flames.

O-O-O

Cyborg, meanwhile, had responded to an attack at a nearby candy factory... but by the time he got there, half of it had been destroyed by Plasmus.

"Awww, there's nothin' here you like, huh, big guy?" said Cyborg, pointing his gun at the purple sludge monster as it stood next to a large, bubbling vat of chocolate. Plasmus ignored Cyborg and ripped the vat out of the ground, lifting it up and pouring the contents into its mouth. The beast then made a loud, retching noise, spitting out the chocolate and smashing the empty metal container to pieces. "Yeah, that's about how I feel whenever I see you eat that disgusting sludge."

Plasmus let out a roar, tossing away the empty container and spewing a generous amount of sticky green sludge at Cyborg, who rolled out of the way and fired a plasma cannon blast right into the middle of Plasmus' chest. Plasmus roared in pain as the blast pierced through, immediately regenerating itself and transforming one of its arms into a large, solid hammer.

"This ain't gonna be good," said Cyborg, rolling out of the way and firing several more energy blasts at Plasmus' head, just before the hammer came down on him. _"I hope I can hold this...!"_

Reaching up with both hands, Cyborg was able to stop the purple hammer from smashing him... but Plasmus continued applying force, and Cyborg soon found it harder and harder to hold the hammer in place. As beads of sweat began to roll down Cyborg's face, he could hear an obnoxious voice from behind his back, taunting him.

"Awww, are you having trouble holding up that big hammer?" It was Gizmo, floating in the air via the use of a spinning rotary blade attached to an apparatus mounted on top of his head. In his hands, the bald H.I.V.E. member held a small, metal box with several buttons on top, and a large claw attachment in the front. "Here, lemme help you!"

Pressing a button, Gizmo sent the claw forward to grab Cyborg. He pulled Cyborg out from under Plasmus' hammer, but also held him in place, the strong metallic pincher preventing all of Cyborg's efforts to escape.

"H...HEY! You little... I'll get you...!" shouted Cyborg, trying to turn around but unable to do so because of the claw wrapped tightly around his waist. He tried to point his blaster at Gizmo, who pressed another button on the box in his hands, extending the claw and putting it back under Plasmus' hammer.

"I try to help you out, and this is the thanks I get?! Smash him, Plasmus!"

The sludge monster happily obliged, bringing its hammer down hard on Cyborg's head and knocking him unconscious. With loud, snorting laughter, Gizmo floated over to Cyborg's unconscious body, kicking him repeatedly in the side while giving Plasmus a thumbs-up.

"I'll go tell Jinx we've got another one, you go and help take out the rest of 'em, got it?"

O-O-O

In the parking lot outside the factory, Jinx was seated in the back of a windowless van, staring at a glowing box of energy that filled up most of the space inside the back compartment. Standing inside the box was Kid Flash, whose quickness was being restrained by the radiation that the box gave off.

"Gizmo designed that _especially _to hold you, so don't expect to get out anytime soon," said Jinx, giving Kid Flash a taunting smirk as he repeatedly tried to escape.

Seeing that his efforts were futile, the redheaded teen let out a sigh and sat down, looking up at Jinx with his hands resting on his knees.

"So... I guess you finally caught me, huh?"

"Yeah, I finally did, and when I take you to Madame Rouge, she'll be so impressed that she'll _have _to make me her number one lieutenant!"

"Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen... from what I've seen, she's not really all that impressed with you."

Throughout the week, Kid Flash had heard the numerous communiqués between Rouge and Jinx, and with every failure the pink-haired girl had, Rouge seemed more and more angry with her... and Jinx seemed more and more discouraged. But this was different... now, Jinx _wasn't _a failure! Now she had Kid Flash in her grasp... now, nothing would stop her from completing her mission.

Unless she went soft, which was exactly what Kid Flash was trying to make her do... and Jinx had to let him know that it wasn't going to work.

"And don't expect any mercy from me, either! I'm a bad girl, and I'm always gonna be a bad girl... so don't think for one second that you can charm me into being anything else."

"Oh, no, I don't expect any mercy... you're evil, and you're gonna take me to your boss, and that's the way it has to be. Isn't that right?"

The worry was gone from Kid Flash's face, replaced with a smile as he casually repeated Jinx's apparent plans. This proved to be a bit annoying to Jinx, who pressed her hands up against Kid Flash's containment box and tried to sound as intimidating as he could.

"...you stop that right now, you understand? If you don't stop fearing me, I'm gonna come inside that box and... no... wait a minute, I... grrr... AAAAAAGH!"

Jinx pounded her fists against the box, which caused Kid Flash to start laughing... which only served to make Jinx more and more angry. She sat back down against the side of the van, just as Gizmo opened the back compartment and threw an unconscious Cyborg inside.

"I got another one, Jinx..."

"Excellent," said Jinx, smiling as she took a brief look at Cyborg. "Let's drop him back off at headquarters with the others, then let's take Kid Flash to show Madame Rouge... she's gotta be back from her own mission by now."

After Gizmo threw Cyborg inside, he closed and locked the back compartment of the van, before getting up in the front with Mammoth and driving off. Kid Flash stared at Jinx for a moment before looking back down at Cyborg, a hint of worry forming once again on his face.

"_First Robin, and now Cyborg... and I'm sure they have plenty of others, too... this isn't good, we're losing the fight... if I can't convince Jinx to get me out of this, Jump City's in serious trouble..."_

O-O-O

The sun had set completely, and the sky was almost totally black... with a good portion of the city's power grid down, the streetlights gave Raven no illumination as she ran down the darkened sidewalk... she wasn't scared of the dark, but the large group of Sladebots behind her were closing in fast, and running behind them was Adonis, who was eager to get revenge on Raven for all the times she'd rejected him.

"_I can take on Adonis... I can take on a few Sladebots... but Adonis and..." _Raven did a quick count in her head, coming up with a number that she didn't like. _"Thirty Sladebots? I'm gonna need some help on this one..."_

Raven stopped running and turned around, her hands beginning to glow brightly as she charged up for a telekinetic attack.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"

Raven took control of the front row of Sladebots, sending all of them backward into the second row... but the attack did little more than slow the advance down a bit, and soon, both rows of Sladebots were back on their feet and running Raven's way.

"You can't stop these robots, and you definitely can't stop me, Raven!" shouted Adonis, leaping over all five rows of Sladebots and landing just a few feet away from Raven, who let out a gasp and stumbled back. She took control of a car and flung it at Adonis, who ducked out of the way and allowed the car to sail over his head and crash into the Sladebots behind him. "Awww, so close."

"Grrr..." Raven clenched her fists and took another step back, looking up into Adonis' eyes and charging up for a dark energy blast. _"If that car won't stop him, maybe this will..."_

But Adonis wasn't about to wait for Raven to strike. Instead, he made his own move, rearing back his fist and preparing to level the half-demoness with a well-placed punch to the head. Raven stopped her attack and let out a loud gasp... which was suddenly stifled by a hand going over her mouth and pulling her into a nearby alley. Adonis had been so distracted by his punch that he didn't see Raven get pulled back... and didn't even find out that she was gone until his fist punched through the air.

"What the... hunh?"

Raven now found herself being pressed gently against a brick wall, the hand still over her mouth... though when she peered through the shadows in front of her, she could see exactly who it belonged to.

"_Beast Boy..."_

"Don't worry, Raven, I won't let anything happen to you!" whispered Beast Boy. Raven responded by emitting a series of muffled protests, which only caused Beast Boy's hand to press down even tighter. "Shhhh!!!"

Raven continued to protest, trying to shout to Beast Boy to let her go so that she could tell him something... but he continued to talk, getting louder and louder with every word while keeping her silent with his hand.

"I've been looking all over the city for you! Well, actually, I've been looking all over the city for the Doom Patrol, but I'm really glad I found you... don't worry, I'll get you away from these guys, then we can surprise 'em from behind and-"

Raven did a little silencing of her own, raising up one of her own hands and pressing it against Beast Boy's mouth as firmly as he was doing to her. The changeling quickly got the point, releasing Raven and stepping back slightly, an embarrassed look on his face.

"Uh... sorry about that," whispered Beast Boy as soon as Raven's hand moved away. "Follow me..."

Beast Boy began to run deeper into the alley, and Raven followed him, looking back to make sure that Adonis and the Sladebots weren't following her. Fortunately, Adonis, being as dumb as he was, was still looking for Raven on the sidewalk, thinking that she'd teleported away... which gave the two Titans all the time they needed to escape.

"_Thanks for the save, Beast Boy... though I'd be a bit more grateful if your big mouth didn't almost get us caught again..."_

O-O-O

General Immortus' tank rolled down one of the empty streets of downtown Jump City... he'd left the school some time ago, allowing the army of escaped convicts and Sladebots to terrorize the children still trapped there while he coordinated the rest of the battle in person. He currently held a walkie talkie up to his ear, discussing the current state of the battle with the Brain.

"Almost all of the groups have had success," reported the general, a malevolent smile on his face. "Many of the young heroes have been captured or defeated, only a few of our people have not reported in recently..."

"This is excellent to hear," the Brain replied, watching the battle unfold on monitors deep within his own headquarters. "How long do you expect this battle to continue?"

"It will not be long now, my lord..." the general continued as his tank rolled through the mostly-deserted city. "Soon, we will claim an overwhelming victory... and then, there will be nothing left to stop us from taking over the city... and the world."

O-O-O

The fight between Terra and Rouge had spilled entirely out of the warehouse and onto the streets of the city, and Terra silently cursed herself for allowing this to happen...

"_I hate leaving Sanza alone in there..."_

Terra barely had time for self-loathing, as she received a punch to the face from Madame Rouge that sent her all the way out into the middle of the street. As Rouge advanced toward her, Terra slammed her fist into the ground, sending up another large slab of rock that rushed in her opponent's direction. But this time, Rouge was ready, extending her left arm and punching right through the slab, causing its remnants to sail harmlessly behind her.

"Nice try, but you will soon find that your little rock-throwing is as useless as your boyfriend's pathetic weapons," said Rouge, extending her fist forward even more and launching another punch at Terra's face. Terra ducked under Rouge's arm, which continued expanding before coming back around and curling into a whip-like shape which Rouge intended to use to wrap around Terra's body. Instead of dodging, Terra ran toward Madame Rouge as quickly as she could, waiting until the returning arm got right behind her before levitating herself into the air on a small rock and allowing the arm to sail right under her. _"What the...?!"_

The arm continued forward, all the way back to Madame Rouge. It wrapped tightly around her midsection, pinning her other arm to her side and continuing to go around until it was all stretched out. The reversal was a minor annoyance for Madame Rouge, easily remedied by simply returning her wayward arm to its normal size... but it gave Terra time she needed to launch an attack of her own, and as soon as Rouge turned to normal, she found the cement beneath her feet beginning to soften.

"What is this foolishness?" shouted Rouge angrily, watching as her legs began to sink into the soft ground. She attempted to stretch them out in order to escape, but encased by soft concrete, they wouldn't budge... and soon, Rouge found her waist being pulled down as well.

"_That should hold her for a while," _thought Terra, still floating around on the rock she'd just levitated. With a somersault, she leapt backward off of the rock, sending it flying right into Rouge's face. Stuck in the ground, Rouge was unable to dodge, and the rock hit her hard in the nose. She let out a cry of pain as her neck snapped backward, and Terra could see several large droplets of blood fly out of Rouge's face as the rock sailed past. "Bullseye!"

When Rouge was finally able to move her head back into place, her face was a bloody mess... and she was still stuck in the ground from her chest down. Angrily, she regenerated the skin on her face, closing her numerous wounds before stretching both of her still-free arms upward at Terra and grabbing her by the waist before she could get out of the way. Rouge pulled the blonde geomancer close, prompting Terra to stomp Rouge's forehead repeatedly with her right foot. This did not prompt Rouge to release Terra... instead, it prompted her to stretch her arms to the side, slamming Terra hard into the nearby alley wall and knocking her into a daze. With Terra stunned, Rouge had enough time to melt herself down into the ground, getting herself unstuck by oozing down into the sewers below.

"Well... that got rid of her for a little while..." Terra breathed to herself, turning toward the large hole to her right that had been punched into the brick wall earlier. It was the way back into the warehouse, where she knew Sanza was still struggling to get free. _"That gives me enough time to get Sanza out of there, before Rouge comes back..."_

In the street nearby, a manhole cover was being popped up... and underneath it was Madame Rouge, angrily climbing out of the sewers and making her way back over to Terra. With deadly force, she took the manhole cover in her hands and threw it Terra's way, causing it to spin around like an overgrown discus. Terra could see the spinning manhole cover coming at her, and quickly lifted up a chunk of concrete to block it. That did little good, as the manhole cover simply smashed through the concrete and continued flying at Terra, who let out a scream and threw herself against the wall to the left, breathing a sigh of relief as the large, spinning piece of metal sailed just inches past her.

"Oh... that was so very close," said Madame Rouge, running into the alley and heading straight for Terra. Terra gasped and dodged to the side as Rouge threw a powerful right hook straight at her head. "Hold still!"

But Terra didn't comply with Rouge's command... instead, she spun around and aimed a kick at the side of Rouge's head, a kick that connected with Rouge's cheek and knocked her slightly to the side. She then thrust her arms downward and lifted up another slab of rock, flinging Rouge backward and into the air.

Rouge stretched out her legs as she was knocked back, kicking Terra in the chin and knocking her off her feet. The two combatants hit the ground at the same time, and both launched simultaneous attacks, with Terra throwing several rocks at Rouge at the same time that Rouge flung out her left arm. Rouge swung her arm into the rocks, destroying them while at the same time hitting Terra in the side, knocking her over and causing her to let out a cry of pain. Before Terra could recover, Rouge ran over and kicked her in the stomach.

"Aaaaaaaaagh!" Terra began coughing violently as she rolled onto her face, the force of the kick having knocked the wind out of her, leaving her wide open for another of Rouge's dangerous attacks. _"Nothing I do is working... she's right, I'm no match for her!"_

As Terra lay helpless on the ground, Rouge slid one of her feet beneath Terra's side and flipped her up into the air, while at the same time stretching out her other leg at such speed that she was able to connect with a brutal kick to Terra's side that sent her flying all the way out the other side of the alley. She hit the sidewalk hard as she landed, bouncing up and then falling back down into the middle of the road.

"_This is so easy..." _thought Rouge, casually strolling down the alley as Terra lay motionless on the ground ahead. _"And it's taking her farther and farther away from Sanza... giving her no chance of saving him."_

That was a fact that Terra seemed to realize as well. As she lay on the concrete, her bruised body racked with intense pain, she was able to look up and see Madame Rouge slowly walking toward her.

"_Come on, Terra... you have to get up... Sanza's counting on you...!"_

She clenched her fists and tried to remember Sanza's horrified face right after she removed the tape from his eyes... how convinced he was that it wasn't Terra who'd come to save him, but that it was Rouge coming to torment him... Sanza had not only been physically beaten, but psychologically assaulted as well... she'd never seen him that frightened in her entire life... and it wrenched her heart to see him in that condition.

"_And it's all this evil woman's fault..." _thought Terra, looking up at Rouge and narrowing her eyes as the shapeshifter emerged from the alley and continued to walk toward her. _"No matter what, I'm going to make her pay for hurting Sanza... he'd do the same for me...!"_

Gathering all of her courage, all of her determination, Terra slowly began to pick herself up from the ground... for the first time since Slade had taken over her body, Terra began blocking out all the bad memories from her mind... she could feel her confidence in her powers returning, and she knew that no matter what she'd failed at in the past, she couldn't fail at this... Sanza was counting on her.

Just as Terra reached a standing position, Rouge struck, extending one of her arms and launching her fist right at Terra's face. Without even flinching, Terra reached up and caught Rouge's fist in her hand, then levitated a piece of concrete up from the ground and threw it at Rouge's chest. Rouge extended her other arm, transforming it into a whip and swatting right through the rock that Terra had attempted to hit her with.

"Your courage is impressive, but Sanza was just as confident, and look what happened to him..."

Slowly, Rouge's closed fist began to engulf Terra's hand... then her wrist, then her elbow... and then, her entire arm. Still, Terra did not flinch... she kept her eyes locked on Rouge's the whole time. Then, just as Rouge's growing arm began to engulf her shoulder, Terra levitated a sharp pillar of stone up below Rouge's outstretched arm, going right through it and cutting it off at the elbow. The severed pile of expanded flesh that had attached itself to Terra fell limply off, while Rouge winced in pain and retracted her stump, regenerating her hand and wrist before angrily responding to Terra's attack.

"Sanza cut me into hundreds of pieces, and I still regenerated and defeated him... you can try the same tactic if you want, but it will only get you beaten, just like he was!"

With a loud, angry cry, Terra charged forward, lifting up her arms and raising up two huge stone slabs that burst upward on either side of Madame Rouge. When Terra brought her hands together, the two slabs converged, crushing Rouge between them. Having exerted a great deal of effort in order to do this, Terra fell to one knee, gasping and staring up at the slabs, waiting for Rouge's inevitable return.

"It would be really smart of you not to mention Sanza's name in this fight again," Terra spat, watching and waiting for Rouge to emerge from the crushing slabs of rock. When she _did _return, it was spectacular.

The two huge slabs exploded, bombarding Terra with shattered rock fragments and a large cloud of dust as an unscathed Madame Rouge watched from the sidewalk, her hands on her hips.

"It would be smart of you to realize that you cannot defeat me... perhaps if you surrender, I will not make him watch your demise."

Terra rose back to a standing position, wiping the sweat from her face and slowly catching her breath... all of that, and she _still _hadn't put a dent in Madame Rouge... fighting her with the help of all the other Titans was tough, and beating her alone seemed nigh impossible... but somehow, Terra knew she had to win. She had to save Sanza, just as he'd saved her so many times in the past...

"_If my powers are good for ANYTHING, they have to be good for protecting him... if I can save Sanza, then maybe, just maybe... these powers of mine can finally stop being such a horrible curse..."_

O-O-O

Jericho stood inside a darkened convenience store, looking to his left and looking to his right as he backed down an aisle and waited for his opponent to re-appear. Try as he might, he hadn't been able to phase into Kid Wykyyd's body... every time Jericho had tried, Kid Wykyyd had simply phased into subspace and re-emerged somewhere behind him.

"_He moves too quickly..." _thought Jericho, turning around again and clenching his fists. _"If I could just see where he might be going-"_

A glowing energy blast slammed into Jericho from behind, sending him flying forward into a Slushie machine. The machine began to spark, then exploded in a torrent of frozen liquid, sending Jericho sliding across the floor on his stomach. As soon as he stood up, Kid Wykyyd punched him hard in the stomach, then kicked him in the chest, throwing Jericho back.

"_Finally, someone else who doesn't talk..." _thought Kid Wykkyd, a smirk on his face. _"I think I might like this kid if he wasn't working for the enemy..."_

Thinking quickly, Jericho was able to reach up and grab a large handful of red straws, which he threw at Kid Wykkyd with surprising speed, causing the straws to fly like darts and forcing the H.I.V.E. member to phase back into subspace in order to dodge them. Jericho pressed himself up against the table where the Slushie machine had been mounted, his eyes scanning the front of the store.

"_This time, I'm going to wait for him... and as soon as I see him, I'm going to take over his body..." _thought Jericho, focusing intently on the area around him and waiting for Kid Wykkyd to make a reappearance. _"Come on... come on..."_

For several seconds, Jericho waited... no sign of Wykkyd anywhere. Ten seconds, fifteen seconds... he was taking his time, as if he knew exactly what Jericho was going to do...

"_You have to come back some time..."_

And Kid Wykkyd did come back... right in front of Jericho. He sent a fist straight into the boy's stomach, causing him to double over... then, phased out and back in to Jericho's left, punching him in the side of the head and knocking him to the ground. In a daze, Jericho was unable to concentrate enough to take over Wykkyd's body... which left him completely vulnerable to a knockout blow. Wykkyd raised his foot over Jericho's head, preparing to stomp him unconscious.

"_Chalk up another capture for the H.I.V.E. Five..."_

But as Wykkyd's foot was coming down, a powerful elbow slammed hard into the side of the teenage villain's head. It struck with such force that Kid Wykkyd was sent flying, through a display case of soda and then further back, crashing through the window of the store and landing out in the parking lot between two gas tanks. Needless to say, he was unconscious.

Jericho blinked his eyes several times, looking up at the shadowy figure who had apparently just saved his life. He slowly stood up, but his savior did not turn... and Jericho, unable to speak, had no way of asking the mysterious man to turn around. Finally, he reached up and tapped the man on the shoulder... it didn't get him to turn, but it did get him to speak.

"Joseph, I know you've been wondering why I've come here... why you and I haven't spoken in so long."

Jericho recognized the voice immediately, letting out an audible gasp and taking a step back, slipping on the puddle of Slushie that had accumulated on the floor. As he started to fall, a hand reached out and grabbed him firmly by the wrist, holding him up, then pulling him close. The man now turned around, forcing Jericho to look him right in the eye...

"Come. We have much to discuss."

"_Father..."_

Slade's hand released its grip on Jericho's wrist. The boy immediately began rubbing the spot where he'd been grabbed, seeing a bruise already starting to form. His eyes narrowed briefly in anger, but his expression soon softened... though his mother and sister had yet to forgive Slade for his actions, to Jericho, Slade had nothing to forgive... it wasn't Slade's fault that he had been kidnapped and threatened, it wasn't Slade's fault that he was now a mute... and ever since the two had parted, there was nothing that Jericho wanted more than to see his father again...

But not under these circumstances.

"I'm sure you want an explanation as to why I've come here to Jump City... why I've been spending the last few years trying to conquer the world... as my son, you deserve an explanation, and I'm about to give you one... but you have to trust me."

And then, Slade turned and exited the store, casually walking through the broken window, which had shards of glass still falling from the hole that had been made in it. After giving it a brief moment of thought, Jericho followed Slade through the window, walking behind his father at a distance as he led Jericho to who knows where.

"_After all I've heard about what you've done, I don't know whether I should trust you... but... you are my father, and no matter what, I'll always love you... so I think you deserve a chance to explain everything to me..."_

O-O-O

As Terra and Rouge's fight got further and further away from the warehouse, Sanza could hear less and less of them, until finally, he could hear nothing at all... and once again, he was truly alone.

"_At least now I can see... and talk... though I don't really have anyone to talk _to_..." _It was funny. Without the blindfold, Sanza was much less terrified about his situation than he'd been before Terra had showed up... though he knew he was still tied down as tightly as ever, and because of that, was still essentially helpless. _"Dammit... I don't know how long she can last... Terra's tough, but... so is Madame Rouge... I still have to get free and save her!"_

And Sanza's struggles began anew, his wrists straining furiously at the tape binding them, while the rest of his body struggled as well, fighting the bonds as well as it could... He moved furiously from side to side, the tape not giving even the slightest bit... after several minutes, he began to give up, then, realizing how much danger Terra was in, resumed his struggles, hoping against hope that Slade wouldn't come in just as he was getting himself free.

"Come on... come on... dammit... AAAAAAAGH!" Shifting from side to side, Sanza could feel the tape around his chest beginning to give... and the chair underneath him begin to move. At first, it only lifted half an inch off the ground... then an inch, then two inches... then, began to tip to the right. "Whoa, wait a minute... that's not how I'm gonna free myself...!"

Shifting his weight to the left, Sanza barely managed to keep the chair from tipping over. He breathed a sigh of relief and resumed his struggles again, squirming as much as he could, but getting extremely frustrated when the tape holding him still refused to give any more than he'd already been able to flex it. This frustration led to anger, and led once again to Sanza tipping his chair... but this time, he wasn't able to right himself. The chair fell over, dumping Sanza on his side and causing his arm to hit the concrete floor rather hard.

"AAAAAH, SHIT!!!" The pain followed immediately after, shooting up through Sanza's arm to his shoulder, then down to his hand, followed by more pain to his sides... and after all that, he was still tied up as severely as ever. "Fucking... dammit..."

He resumed his struggles as soon as the pain began to fade, hoping that the hard fall had loosened some of his bonds... it hadn't. However, it did give him a new perspective... and he was able to look across the floor to see something he hadn't before... a screwdriver lying near the far wall.

"_Now... that _could _be useful..." _Sanza knew that if he got the screwdriver into his hands, he could use it to loosen up some of the tape, allowing him to maybe get himself free... but the screwdriver was nearly a hundred feet away, which was an extremely long trip for someone who was tied to a chair. _"I guess I'd better get over there..."_

Shifting his weight again, Sanza was able to turn his body so that the chair was underneath him... this put all the weight of his back firmly down on his arms. While that hurt, and quite badly, it _did _put him in the best position possible to be able to squirm over to the screwdriver... and slowly but surely, he did, using his fingers to pull himself along the floor inch by inch, at the rate of a foot every two or three seconds. With every movement that he made, the weight on his arms was tremendous, but like the pain in the rest of his body, he became numb to this pain rather quickly, and was soon able to ignore it long enough to make the arduous trip across the length of the floor to the screwdriver.

Finally, once he could feel the handle of the screwdriver beneath his fingers, he gripped it tightly in his bound hands and turned the chair back over, so that once again, he was resting on his side.

"Aggggh... that hurts too..." Sanza moaned, now feeling most of the weight on his left shoulder. Maneuvering his fingers as adeptly as he could, he was able to slide the head of the screwdriver beneath the tape that was binding his wrists, and with just a few movements, was able to loosen the tape enough to pull his hands free. After doing this, he was able to get his arms free from the chair, though the tape pinning his upper arms and his chest to the chair's back would still be a problem. Fortunately, with most of his arms now free, he was able to use the small amount of slack he'd already created to loosen the tape the rest of the way, and after a minute or two, finally freed the rest of his arms. _"Yes...!!!"_

After shaking the feeling back into his arms, getting the rest of himself free took relatively little effort, and soon, a rather weary Sanza was back on his feet, stumbling around and trying to keep himself steady. He knew he still had two things to do... find his suit, and help Terra to defeat Madame Rouge. He wouldn't be able to do either if he was too weak to move... so despite the pain still lingering in every area of his body, he did a lap around the storeroom of the warehouse. On his way back around, he passed the small office in the corner of the room... and, noticing the lockers placed up against the wall, figured that they would be a rather good place to stash a stolen suit...

"_I just hope they were stupid enough to leave it unlocked..." _

To Sanza's great surprise and delight, the lockers were easily opened, and Sanza found his Red X suit in the second one, hanging up neatly, with the mask and gloves piled up at the bottom. The Xynothium reactor that kept the suit charged was still neatly in place, and as he changed back into his suit, he allowed himself the first laugh he'd had in a great while.

"_Rouge was so confident that I wouldn't be able to escape that she left my suit right there for me to find... she was probably planning to take it to Slade along with me... damn, she's as foolish as I was..."_

After changing into the suit, Red X casually strolled out of the office and made his way back out into the storeroom. He took one last look at the room... a room where he'd suffered his worst defeat and had gone through maybe the most horrifying ordeal of his life... and quickly decided that he wanted nothing more to do with this room or this building. Terra was somewhere outside by now, and X knew he had to find her before Rouge beat her into a pulp... he wasn't about to let what happened to him happened to her.

"_Don't worry, Terra... I'm coming..."_

O-O-O

Red X left the warehouse through the front door, planning to search the entire area until he discovered where Rouge and Terra were fighting... considering how spectacular Terra's battles normally were, the spot shouldn't be hard to find.

But before he could go anywhere, he bumped right into the biggest, furriest chest he'd ever seen... and when he looked up, he found himself face-to-face with a literal 800-pound gorilla.

"I see you've been able to escape..." said Monsieur Mallah, calmly preparing himself to beat Red X back into submission. "Your freedom will not continue for long."

O-O-O

Out of the frying pan and into the fire... is Red X doomed? And for that matter, is Terra doomed? And with most of the Titans captured... is Jump City doomed? Read the next chapter to find out whether the doom and gloom continues, or whether the forces of good finally start to make a comeback!


	13. Tit For Tat

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Red X couldn't believe what he was seeing. Moments after he'd escaped from the most harrowing ordeal of his life, he was now face-to-face with yet another member of the Brotherhood of Evil... and would be in for another brutal fight.

"You can come quietly, or I can crush you with my bare hands," said Mallah, looking down at Red X and giving the thief his most intimidating glare. "The choice is yours."

X knew he had to move quickly, and he did just that, affixing two explosive X's to Mallah's chest. As Mallah angrily lunged forward, the Xs detonated, knocking him back into the street and sending Red X flying into the door behind him. Smoke began to rise from Mallah's scorched body, but he recovered quickly, letting out a growl and rubbing the burned areas on his chest.

"So be it," growled Mallah, charging forward again. Though his body was racked with pain, X was able to leap up into the air, dodging Mallah's attack and somersaulting behind him. He extended a long, glowing chain from his right hand, wrapping it around Mallah's midsection and hoping to pull the large gorilla off of his feet.

"Last chance," replied Red X, tugging at the chain with all his might, his voice straining as he spoke. "You can... leave now... or I can give you a thrashing you won't forget."

With a slight chuckle, Mallah turned to face his opponent, allowing the chain to wrap once around his body. He then gripped the chain with both hands, immediately pulling Red X toward him. The thief tried to sever the chain, but he didn't have nearly enough time... and soon, he was pulled right into Mallah's arms and wrapped up in a tight, painful bearhug.

The gorilla's arms began to tighten around X's chest and back, aggravating all of his recent injuries and causing him to let out a loud, painful cry. He could feel the air being squeezed out of his body, and knew that if he didn't escape soon, he'd likely pass out in less than a minute.

"_I can't let this stupid monkey beat me... not now...!" _X struggled and strained in Mallah's grasp, which only served to squeeze more air out of his body, giving him less and less time to struggle with every passing second.

"I do not see how you escaped from Madame Rouge... your stupidity has cost you this battle before it has even begun," Mallah stated, his arms crushing even tighter around Red X's midsection. "I don't know whether to re-capture you or just to crush you right here and now and be done with it... I think I'll decide after you pass out."

Red X _wasn't _going to let that happen, but time seemed to be rapidly slipping away from him... he continued to struggle, thinking of his friends... his family... and of Terra, who was likely fighting a fierce battle, unaware that the boy she was fighting for had just now gotten free.

"_I can't let her down... I can't... I have to get out of this!"_

Though his arms were pinned to his sides by the force of Mallah's bearhug, X still knew that he could point his palms forward... he could attack Mallah, but he wasn't sure if he could attack with enough force to extricate himself... and as his oxygen came closer and closer to running out, he wasn't sure if he could concentrate well enough either.

He placed the palms of his hands on the bottom of the gorilla's stomach, focusing as much energy as he could before letting loose with an electrical charge. The charge soon engulfed Mallah's entire body, surrounding him with bright red arcs of lightning and forcing him to loosen his grip with a loud, angry roar. He dropped Red X to the ground, and the thief immediately crumpled up upon hitting the sidewalk, taking several loud, gasping breaths while crawling away from Mallah as quickly as he could. He looked behind him and could see the huge beast still roaring, though the electricity around his body had disappeared.

"_I need to find a more suitable environment to face this guy..." _thought Red X, managing to get to a standing position and dashing across the street toward a row of buildings. _"I hate to go further away from Terra, but... if I don't beat Mallah, I won't get to see her at all..."_

By now, Mallah had recovered from the electrical shock and was lumbering across the street, trying to catch up with Red X.

"Hey, you big bastard, if you want me, you gotta catch me," Red X taunted, passing behind the long row of buildings and emerging out onto another street. Behind the next row of buildings, he could see a fairly large playground area, and smiled to himself beneath his mask. _"Perfect..."_

Mallah pursued the agile thief, his body still tingling from the shock that had been delivered to his body moments earlier. He'd thought that catching a weakened and exhausted Red X would be an easy task, but that was quickly proving to not be the case... and as he emerged into the playground that X had led him to, he began to realize that he was going to be in for a difficult and tedious fight. He gazed to his left and to his right, looking past slides, swingsets, a jungle gym, and a merry-go-round... and was unable to see any sign of his annoying target.

"You cannot hide from me," said Mallah, stalking the playground and keeping an attentive eye toward any sign of movement... unable to see that Red X was hiding in the narrow space between the bottom of the merry-go-round and the grassy ground beneath. He watched Mallah for a few moments, laughing to himself before deciding to call out the mighty beast.

"I'm right under here," X suddenly shouted, looking up at Mallah from beneath the merry-go-round. The gorilla looked down and locked eyes with the thief, giving an angry roar and running toward the large, spinning metal structure. As X quickly ducked beneath it, Mallah grabbed two of the metallic handles, and showing an amazing amount of strength, ripped the whole thing right out of the ground, immediately triggering the explosive devices that X had rigged it with. The explosion engulfed both Mallah and the center of the playground, as Red X watched from his position atop a nearby swingset, his arms over his chest.

When the smoke cleared from the explosion, an enraged and slightly singed Mallah was glaring up at Red X, clearly trying to mask his growing rage.

"That trick will _not _work on me again," claimed Mallah, running toward the swingset with the intention of knocking it over. The thief beat him to the punch, leaping off from the top of the structure and affixing an X to the top of Mallah's head as he somersaulted over him. Mallah let out a roar, spinning around and swinging a fist at Red X, only to have the X on top of his head suddenly expand into a spherical, cage-like structure that wrapped around Mallah's body, encasing it and trapping the gorilla in a giant, Xynothium hamster ball. "What... what is this...?"

As Mallah angrily pounded on his prison, the ball began to roll forward, much to Mallah's surprise and X's delight.

"You've got a long way to go before you can outsmart me," the thief remarked, taunting Mallah yet again as the ball began rolling faster and faster, carrying Mallah out of the playground and toward an adjacent street. _"Now that he's trapped, I can make my way back to Terra..."_

But the furious Monsieur Mallah wasn't about to be beaten so easily, especially not by a mere child like Red X. Gathering up as much strength as he could, he threw his fists outwards, punching right through the exterior of the shell around his body and shattering the entire thing to pieces just as he was about to roll off of the playground. The stunned Red X barely had time to react as Mallah turned around and charged toward him, throwing a punch that hit the thief right in the side of the face. X was tossed backward by the punch, and he flew back until he slammed into a metal slide with such force that the slide was nearly bent in half. He immediately slid to the ground at the bottom of the slide, his back in agonizing pain. Mallah slowly approached the injured Red X, a devilish smile on his face.

"Your fun has gone on long enough," Mallah said coldly, punching Red X again, this time in the chest. The punch caused X to let out a loud, painful scream, and further distorted the slide he was leaning on, bending the metal back so that a large portion of the bottom of the slide was now bent behind the section at the top, and the entire slide was about to collapse. "I don't think Rouge _or _Slade would mind if I ended your life right here."

"_You may not mind, but I do..." _thought Red X, pressing his arms against the slide and forcing his legs upward, putting his feet together and slamming them right into Mallah's jaw. _"I'm not gonna lose to you!"_

O-O-O

As Red X and Mallah battled it out in the park, Terra still had her hands full with Madame Rouge... the two were fighting in the middle of an alley, and the fight was just about as brutal as any that Terra had ever been in.

Terra spun around and launched a kick at Madame Rouge's face, one that hit her in the cheek and knocked her back a step... Rouge responded by punching Terra in the nose, which caused her to stumble back into the wall behind her. As soon as she hit the wall, Terra thrust out her arms, throwing several bricks outward from the wall and bombarding Rouge's face and chest with them, causing several cuts and bruises that Rouge didn't bother to heal... she stumbled back and wiped a stream of blood from her lips, then extended her own arms forward, wrapping them around Terra's neck and tightening her grip around it as much as she could.

"I'll make you pay for interfering in our plans... you'll regret the day you were born!" shrieked Rouge, her fingernails digging into Terra's soft skin. Not intimidated for even a moment, Terra narrowed her eyes, which immediately began to glow.

"And you'll regret laying a finger on my best friend," replied Terra, punching Rouge in the gut as hard as she could. Rouge let out a gasp, but her chokehold on Terra didn't loosen, and the blonde soon found herself fighting for air. _"If she doesn't let go soon, I'm finished!"_

Terra's eyes continued to glow, and she started to levitate the ground beneath Rouge's feet... Rouge reacted immediately. She kept her grip around Terra's neck with her right hand, using her left to strike a brutal, short-range punch at Terra's face that caused her head to snap back and hit the wall. Seeing Terra still continue to charge her attack, Rouge punched her again, this time drawing blood, both from Terra's nose and from a small cut that the impact from the wall had made in the back of Terra's head. Still Terra did not falter, and Rouge could feel the ground beneath her swell up even more.

"_I cracked your skull, and still you do not surrender?" _thought Rouge, her shock causing her to begin to loosen her grip on Terra's neck. "What will it take to get you to realize that you can't win?!"

"You'll have to kill me..." said Terra, her voice showing more determination than it had ever shown before.

At that moment, an enormous sand geyser punched through the ground beneath Rouge's feet, launching her up several stories into the air in less than a second. As Rouge let out a scream, the geyser continued carrying her up, nearly a hundred feet. She tried to expand her legs in order to push the geyser down, but the intense disorientation caused her to lose focus, and she was unable to expand herself as she was carried up to a maximum height of one hundred and twenty feet. The geyser remained at that monumental height for several seconds as Rouge was bounced up and down on top of it, unable to do anything but scream and ride out the attack.

Back on the ground, Terra was concentrating intensely, her eyes focused on the top of the geyser, her arms raised up toward Madame Rouge, who was still screaming as she was bounced about on top of the unstable structure.

"_She... she plans to drop me!" _thought Rouge, unsure about whether her body could sustain such a terrible fall, even with her body's enhanced genetics. "You'll pay for this, I swear it!"

Saying nothing, Terra dropped her arms to her sides, the glow in her eyes fading. Almost immediately, the geyser was sucked back into the ground, leaving Rouge to fall freely down into the alley. She let out another loud scream, unable to do anything to protect herself before hitting the ground with sickening force, landing on her face on the hard cement. Terra winced a bit as she watched Rouge hit the ground, looking slightly away and waiting for a talltale pool of blood to begin forming beneath Rouge's head.

"_I know that if she dies, I'm a murderer..." _thought Terra, a slightly worried look appearing on her face. _"But... but she hurt Sanza... she did horrible things to him, she-"_

A loud, pained groan from Rouge shocked Terra out of her thoughts and caused her to let out a gasp. Not only was Madame Rouge alive, but she was still conscious... and seemingly unharmed.

She picked herself up slowly from the ground, her head bowed as she climbed first to her knees, and then all the way to her feet. Terra could see several ugly-looking scrapes on Rouge's arms and legs that slowly began to close as the woman stood... and then, finally, Rouge lifted her head, and stared right into Terra's eyes with an angry, exhausted expression, her face covered in cuts and bruises... her breath coming in shallow gasps.

For the first time since the fight had begun, Rouge was beginning to tire out... but so was Terra, who seemed to be breathing just as heavily as Rouge was as she began stepping back toward the wall. Though Rouge's wounds were healing, her entire body was racked with pain... not since the deforming car crash that she'd had as Laura DeMille had her body felt such an agonizing sensation as her fall from nearly ten stories above the ground. The effort required by her body in healing the wounds and fractures that the fall had created had spent much of the woman's energy... though the fall hadn't killed her, another one like it probably would.

"You bitch..." gasped Madame Rouge, slowly walking toward Terra with a hand pointed right at her face. "How... how dare you!"

Terra lifted up her hands quickly, levitating another chunk of concrete and throwing it into Madame Rouge's chest. Rouge could barely lift a hand to block it, and the stone slammed into her, knocking her back into the wall at the other side of the alley with a painful cry. As Terra remained crouched into a fighting position, Rouge quickly recovered from the attack, making her way back toward Terra again. The geomancer clenched her fists and lifted up three more chunks of concrete, hitting Rouge in the head, the shoulder, and her right leg. She fell to her knees, her neck twisted one way and her body another, a look of rage etched in on her face as she painfully contorted her body back to its normal shape.

"It's over..." said Terra quickly, pointing both of her hands at Madame Rouge, her palms radiating a bright, golden glow. "Don't even _think _about moving..."

But Madame Rouge still believed that she was in control of the fight, and once she'd returned her body shape to normal, she lunged forward again, extending her right arm and grabbing Terra by the shoulder. The quickness of Rouge's attack surprised Terra, who lost her footing and started to fall toward the ground, where Rouge was waiting with a knee that impacted Terra in the stomach and caused her to fall on all fours.

"You have not beaten me... you have just annoyed me, and it is time for you to die!" screamed Madame Rouge, standing over Terra and preparing to kick her right in the throat. Terra looked up at Rouge and sent a slab of concrete up from the ground, hitting Rouge in the jaw and knocking her flat on her back. Terra then rose to one knee and lifted up a large section of concrete, levitating it over the body of the fallen Rouge before she could stand.

"I SAID DON'T MOVE!" Terra rose to her feet and stared right into Rouge's eyes, holding the two-ton chunk of concrete over Rouge's body, threatening to smash her with it should she attempt to get up again. "Unless you think you can survive being buried under this..."

The aching and trembling Rouge looked up at the underside of the concrete that Terra had raised over her head. It was eight feet long and six feet wide, big enough to completely cover her body... and as exhausted as she was, it would be nearly impossible to recover from the force of the blow. If Terra wasn't bluffing, any movement on Rouge's part would be a fatal mistake, and she knew it.

"You... you don't want to kill me," said Madame Rouge, a sly smile forming on her face. "You don't have the guts to kill me..."

"I'm not a Teen Titan anymore," replied Terra, "so I've got no problem with killing you right now."

Though Terra's expression was fierce and intimidating, her internal condition was much less resolute... and despite all Madame Rouge had done to Sanza, Terra had serious doubts about her ability to coldly end Rouge's life... she hadn't truly expected that the fall from ten stories would kill her, she'd expected it to knock Rouge out.

And of course, she remembered the last time she'd been trying to kill someone with her powers... the Teen Titans, her friends... killing was something only truly evil people did... she hadn't even intended to kill Slade when she'd set off that volcano.

But if Terra did have any doubts about killing Madame Rouge, Rouge couldn't see them... all she could see was the enraged face of someone whose beloved had just been physically and psychologically tortured. Still, despite all of that, Rouge began pressing her luck... and attempted to rise.

"I still don't think you can do it, bitch..."

"TRY ME!" screamed Terra, raising the rock several feet higher, so that it would impart much more force when it came down. This caused Rouge to stop, remaining mostly on the ground in a half-sitting, half-laying position... still staring up at the rock above her head. She pondered for a few seconds, then looked right into Terra's eyes, as angrily as she could.

"You may have won this battle... but your friends will still be defeated, and so will you... I will have my revenge, and you will rue the day that you ever challenged me!"

And with that, Madame Rouge sunk into the ground, her body oozing beneath the cracks in the concrete to the sewers below. After several seconds of waiting for Rouge to re-emerge, Terra let out a sigh of relief, falling to one knee and allowing the rock that she was holding up to fall to the ground, shattering to pieces on impact.

"Sanza..." she whispered, her weakened, exhausted body trembling on the ground, an uneasy smile on her bruised face. "I... I beat her... you're safe now..."

A tear streaked down the side of Terra's face, one that she didn't bother to wipe away. After being so sure that her powers were a curse, that they could only do harm, only work to destroy her friends and the city... she'd just used them to save the life of the person she loved. To Terra, it was her first truly heroic act... though her sacrifice of saving the city was certainly much more valiant, it was a deed that Terra herself chose not to acknowledge... but this... this made Terra feel good... about her powers... about everything.

Still sniffling, she stood up, wobbling for a moment on weakened, aching legs... she stood in the middle of the alley, gazing across the street at the warehouse where she believed Sanza to still be trapped inside... and with a bruised body and a smile both on her face and in her heart, she began limping over to the broken building, praying for Sanza's safety the entire time.

O-O-O

Two exploding X's slammed into Mallah's chest, knocking him away from the slide and allowing Red X a brief moment of respite, one that he desperately needed. He stood up and limped away from the badly-damaged slide, watching as Mallah recovered from his latest attack and came charging at X once more.

"_I can understand Madame Rouge not being hurt by these attacks, but Mallah? He's just a really smart monkey, how the hell can he be unharmed?"_

X rolled out of the way just as Mallah came rushing past him, plowing into the mangled slide and tipping it all the way over. As the slide landed on the ground with a crash, Mallah pried off one of its metallic supports and held it up like a large baseball bat, swinging it at Red X several times.

"Missed me... missed again... you'd _never _make it in the majors, you know that?" X taunted Mallah calmly as he ducked and leapt over the gorilla's repeated swipes with the large metal pole, but behind the mask, the thief was extremely nervous... knowing that one good hit with the pole would probably kill him. _"I barely dodged that fourth one... I can't keep this up forever, I have to end this..."_

Extending both of his wrist blades, X crossed them in front of his chest and managed to block the fifth swing of Mallah's metal pole by catching it between the blades... then, as Mallah lifted up the pole for another swing, X charged forward and swiped fiercely across the gorilla's chest. Mallah let out a roar and stumbled back, dropping the pole as the painful gash at X's blade had created began to bleed profusely... again allowing the thief to catch his breath.

"That looks like a real nasty cut, you'd better get that checked," said the thief, kicking Mallah right at the center of the wound, aggravating it further and nearly knocking the gorilla off his feet. "You keep fighting me like this and it could get infected..."

"I've had enough of your insolence," Mallah replied, placing one arm over his wound and using his other to pry up a metallic hobby horse that had been embedded into the ground. With a loud, growling roar, Mallah flung the horse in X's direction with alarming velocity. The thief raised up a Xynothium shield, which barely held as the metallic horse slammed into it. Mallah quickly pried up another horse and threw it at X, who, knowing the shield wouldn't hold, desperately reached out and fired a spinning shuriken. The shuriken sliced cleanly through the horse and the pole that it was attached to, slicing it in two and causing the two halves to sail safely past the exhausted thief.

"_He's gonna throw another one..." _thought X, watching as Mallah pried up the last of the hobby horses in preparation to launch it through the air. _"Maybe I can use that to my advantage..."_

As Mallah threw a third hobby horse in X's direction, the thief leapt up into the air, getting on top of the horse and then jumping again. He extended his leg, kicking at Mallah's face... only to have the gorilla reach up and grab him around the ankle, flinging him around and outward toward the street. As X flew back, he pointed his arms at Mallah and created a glowing net, capturing Mallah just before bouncing off of the sidewalk and then landing painfully on the asphalt behind it, receiving several more bruises as Mallah struggled in the net.

"_Okay... gave myself a bit more time..." _thought Red X, staggering to his feet just as Mallah ripped the next away from his body. _"A little... bit... more time."_

Painfully, X limped back onto the playground, raising his arms as Mallah once again charged forward at him. He fired two Xs from his hands, watching as the Xs expanded into a long, metallic bar that rushed forward and caught Mallah by the neck, continuing to fly back and taking the monkey with them. Mallah let out a loud roar, smashing through the bar just as it carried him into the swingset.

"Aren't you a little big for those?" X asked tauntingly. Mallah fell into one of the swings, and his weight was sufficient enough to rip down the entire structure, causing the support bars above him and to his left and right sides to collapse down on top of him, burying him in chains, poles, and plastic swings. With another loud roar, Mallah threw the destroyed swingset off of his body.

"_This fool thinks he can defeat me by using all of these childish contraptions..." _thought Mallah, glancing around at the destroyed remains of the playground. The swingset was gone, the merry-go-round was gone, the slide was gone... all destroyed by the fight between the thief and the gorilla. Mallah smiled to himself. "You're out of toys... and I'm sure that by now, you're about ready to faint."

Mallah was partially right... X's body was still racked with pain, both from the fight he was in now and from his recent battle with Madame Rouge. Even lifting his arms was an ordeal for him... but with adrenaline still coursing through his veins, he was nowhere near fainting... in fact, he felt as energized as ever.

And when he saw the bike rack still standing near the back of the playground, he began to formulate an idea.

"Come on and catch me again," X said, running toward Mallah and extending his wrist blades a second time. Bewildered, Mallah just stood there, waiting for X to launch what would likely be another futile attack.

"You are making this too easy," Mallah smiled, crouching down and preparing to grab X in another bearhug as he came running in. However, by crouching, Mallah had given X just low enough of a clearance for him to be able to jump onto the gorilla's head... and that's exactly what he did.

Red X leapt into the air, aiming his right foot straight down at the center of Mallah's forehead. Mallah reached up, but he was just a split-second too late, and X was able to kick off of his forehead and leap back and to the side, where he landed right between Mallah and the bike rack behind him.

"Just a _bit _too slow," said X, smirking and taking a step backward, toward the bike rack. "Wanna try again?"

Letting out a growl, Mallah spun around and charged at X. X looked straight into Mallah's eyes, waiting for just the right moment to make his move... and as Mallah lunged, X slid forward, right through the gorilla's legs, making sure to brush up against his left heel as he came forward. Mallah let out a loud roar and began to stumble... then, he lost his balance and fell, his neck landing right on the top of the bike rack. Stunned by the impact, Mallah was left dazed for a moment, his head hanging off the front of the bike rack, with the rest of his body drooped behind... leaving him in perfect position for the thief's next move.

"_I hope this works as good in real life as it does in wrestling..." _thought X, charging forward at the bike rack and leaping into the air. Grabbing the top bar with both hands, he swung his body quickly around, launching both of his feet into Mallah's face at incredible speed. The blow knocked Mallah's head off of the bike rack, and his body fell with it... the stunned gorilla landed flat on his back. "Yes!"

With Mallah briefly incapacitated, X leapt up onto the top of the bike rack, crouching down and bending his legs.

"_Time to drop the dime on this monkey," _thought X, launching himself into a somersault off of the rack and landing squarely on Mallah's chest and stomach. The force knocked all of the wind out of the gorilla, immediately rendering him unconscious... while X was able to bounce off gently and land on his feet about half a yard away, exhausted and in a great deal of pain... but ultimately victorious.

He took several moments to catch his breath... after more than an hour of fighting and suffering, X was finally free... and, for now, he was safe. He limped away from Mallah and walked out of the playground, looking around for a moment to make sure that no one was watching before taking off his mask and inhaling several long, deep breaths of fresh air. He gazed up into the starry sky, walking away from the playground and not looking back.

Somewhere nearby, he knew Terra was waiting for him... he didn't know whether or not she was still fighting, but wherever she was, he knew he had to go to her.

"_Terra... it's finally over..." _thought Sanza, who briefly blocked the peril that the rest of the city was facing out of his mind... for now, he just wanted to focus on getting to Terra... Jump City would have to wait. _"I hope I never have to go through anything like _that _again..."_

And with that, Sanza put his mask back on and broke off into a run, heading back toward the warehouse where Madame Rouge had imprisoned him.

O-O-O

Robin awoke inside a cold, dark chamber to the sound of chains rattling nearby. When he looked up, he found himself temporarily blinded by a bright, green glow... and through that glow he could see a very familiar face.

"...Starfire?" Robin muttered weakly. He tried to reach out and touch her, but found his arms chained firmly above his head... and through the glow of Starfire's eyes, he could see her arms in a similar state... though her chains appeared to be made of much stronger material. "Where are we?"

"I do not know... I woke up here after passing out at the airport, and saw you hurt... I am so glad that you have awakened, if I could embrace you I would, but... well..."

Starfire gave a firm tug at the chains holding her own arms, unable to pull them loose. She breathed a heavy sigh and began telling Robin everything she did know.

"We appear to be in a small, metallic container, twenty-four feet in length and five feet in width... or on my planet, seven cubic flooblops."

"_Damn..." _thought Robin to himself, looking down to see his legs chained together at the ankles, with a large, metallic ball holding them down. Starfire's ankles were fastened similarly, though again, her bonds were much stronger than his... and held down with a glowing piece of blue metal that appeared to be bolted to the floor of the container. "Starfire, what-"

"It is a gravity-powered restrictor bolt, and I have been unable to loosen it from the floor. I am... sorry, Robin. I know that you were counting on me to stop the villains that I was sent to defeat, but..."

"Starfire, no..." said Robin quietly, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you did everything you could... and besides, I got captured too, so-"

The door of the container was opened, and Robin and Starfire were now looking out at Kitten and Fang, who were smiling at them from the entrance.

"I had to trade all of Daddy's moths away to get you from the H.I.V.E., Robbie-poo... but it was _totally _worth it," said Kitten, sneering as she climbed into the container and walked over to Robin. "I'm really going to enjoy this..."

As Kitten stepped in between Robin and Starfire, the Tamaranian girl struggled fiercely... Kitten was right in front of her face, but because of the chains, she was unable to do a thing about it... except curse up a storm.

"Get away from Robin right now, you haruvial scipping drambog syloo of a zunthag nozzling gulwonk!"

"...Fang, would you be a dear and-"

"Already on it, Kitten-cakes," said Fang, shooting out a lump of sticky goo that pasted itself over Starfire's mouth, muffling her swear-filled tirade.

"Fang, why are you helping Kitten hook up with me?!" shouted Robin, glaring over at Fang, before Kitten seized Robin by the jaw and forced him to look at her.

"He's not helping me _hook up _with anyone, Robbie-poo... I'm going to have one night of fun with you, then I'm going to kill you... AND I'M GONNA MAKE HER WATCH!" Kitten shrieked, pointing right in Starfire's face. Starfire screamed in rage, her hands beginning to glow bright green as she gave a fierce tug at the chains holding her arms. "And now, that fun is about to begin..."

Before Robin could say anything, Kitten crushed her lips to his, enveloping his mouth in a deep, sensual kiss. He tried to pull away, but there was nothing he could do... and the whole time, Starfire was forced to watch, her heart in agony as she viewed the boy she loved being attacked by Kitten.

"_Starfire...!!" _Robin tried all he could to pull his lips away from Kittens, all he could to keep her tongue from forcing its way down his throat... and by the time ten seconds had gone by, Starfire had seen enough.

She blasted Kitten in the back with her eye lasers, which immediately got the blonde off of Robin... and also made her extremely angry. She pointed at Starfire and barked another order to Fang.

"FANG! HER EYES! NOW!"

Fang shot out another clump of webbing, but Starfire was too fast, disintegrating it with her eye lasers before it could hit her, then shooting another laser blast, which hit Fang right in the face and knocked him out immediately. Kitten let out a horrified gasp, just as Starfire ripped one of her arms free of the chains and punched her right in the nose with such force that it threw Kitten to the back of the container... and the impact against the metallic wall nearly knocked her out as well.

"Starfire, you did it!" Robin said, an amazed smile on his face. Unable to speak at the moment, Starfire gave Robin a nod, then freed her other arm and disintegrated the device holding her legs with a flurry of Starbolts before ripping the goo from her mouth and wrapping Robin up tightly in her arms. "Uh... Star, maybe you should free me first..."

"Oh... of course," said Starfire, giggling and tearing through the chains that held Robin. The two stood speechless for a couple of moments, glad that their ordeal was finally over... then, cutting through the emotion, Robin began to speak.

"I... I'm sorry about... well, you know, I mean-"

"Robin, no..." said Starfire with a smile, echoing Robin's reassurance from earlier. "I am confident that you did everything you could... and besides, my mouth was occupied as well, so..."

Before Starfire could finish, Robin cut her off by pressing his lips to hers... the two wrapped their arms around one another and began what was supposed to be a long, sensual embrace... only to have it interrupted by Kitten's commentary from the back of the container.

"Oh my GAWD... that is the most _disgusting _thing I've ever seen!" squealed Kitten, sticking out her tongue and giving Robin and Starfire a thumbs-down. Slowly, Starfire turned to her, her eyes shining with a bright, green glow... and as she began walking toward Kitten, a very nervous look appeared on the blonde's face.

"Robin..." said Starfire quietly, forming a Starbolt in her left hand. "Go and look for the other captured heroes... I will deal with Kitten personally."

Without a word, Robin nodded, leaping out of the container and beginning to look around... the container that he and Starfire had been in was just one among many, enough to fill an entire, fenced-in storage yard... he had little idea just how many of his fellow heroes were locked up here, but he would soon receive his answer.

"HEY!" came a female voice from inside a nearby container, accompanied by some rather loud banging. "Lemme out of here, you bloody bastards!"

The container was in the row right in front of Robin, two to the right... and when he opened it up, he could see Argent alone inside, her arms and legs taped down to a wooden chair.

"Bloody Cinderblock came up behind me... before I knew it, these robot blokes were throwin' me in here!" shouted Argent, her face a mix of anger and relief as Robin freed her from her bonds. "I'm just glad you came here when you did..."

As Argent was freed, more loud yelling and banging could be heard... and when Robin looked into the back of the truck, he could see two jars violently moving back and forth... Robin turned to Argent for a quick explanation.

"Oh... those two little twin guys came in here and tried to free me... they got caught before they could... we should probably let 'em out."

Robin and Argent walked over to the jars and each opened one... and out popped Mas y Menos, a bit out of breath, but glad to see their friend Argent again. As each of them hugged one of her legs, she giggled and patted them both on the head.

"Argent," said Robin, in a much more serious voice. "Did you see any other heroes being brought in here?"

"Well... I woke up as one of the Sladebots was bringin' me in over his shoulder... I could hear some voices from inside the containers, but other than that... I didn't actually see anyone, so-"

"Come on," Robin said, leaping out of the container and gesturing for Argent and Mas y Menos to follow him. "I think we just found where a lot of our friends have been taken to..."

O-O-O

While Robin was working to free the remainder of the captured heroes, Jinx and Gizmo were driving through downtown Jump City, their truck surrounded by a dozen giant, flying moths.

"After we worked so hard to capture the leader of the Teen Titans, you traded him to that crazy girl for a bunch of gross bugs?!" shouted an exasperated Jinx to her companion in the driver's seat. "What are we gonna do with a bunch of gross bugs?"

"I dunno, put lasers on 'em?" Gizmo replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"They already HAVE lasers on them! They shoot lasers out of their eyes, zidiot!"

"They do?" replied Gizmo, his eyes widening in excitement. "COOL!"

"Ugh..." groaned Jinx, leaning her head out the window. "For a super-genius, you do some really stupid things."

"Hey, quit whining! You already got the guy you want, didn't you?"

Jinx let out another sigh, but Gizmo _did _have a point. Kid Flash was in the back of the truck, still locked up in Gizmo's restricting box, his powers useless... and all Jinx had to do now was to find Madame Rouge and turn the hero over to her.

And as luck would have it, Rouge was walking down the sidewalk... a _very _angry look on her face.

"Pull over, pull over!" Jinx shouted, her eyes lighting up as she spotted a glimpse of Madame Rouge. As soon as Gizmo stopped the truck, Jinx climbed out, running over to Rouge and excitedly gesturing toward the back compartment. "Madame Rouge, Madame Rouge, I captured Kid Flash, I-"

"Oh... really?" Madame Rouge raised an eyebrow, her lips still curved into a miserable frown. After her embarrassment at the hands of Terra, she wanted nothing to do with teenagers right now, whether they be good or evil... and unless Jinx had some _extremely _good news, Rouge didn't want to hear it. "...show him to me."

"Right this way...!" said Jinx excitedly, walking Rouge around to the back of the truck and opening it up. There, sitting calmly in his box-shaped prison, was Kid Flash... though his calmness quickly went away as soon as he saw Madame Rouge. "There he is..."

"...I see," Madame Rouge replied, looking not the least bit interested in the fact that Jinx had just captured Kid Flash. "It took you all this time to capture one hero."

"Well... yeah, he's really fast, and... well-"

"This is pathetic," said Rouge, giving Jinx a dismissive gesture and continuing on her way down the sidewalk. "Dispose of him... I don't care how."

Jinx was in shock. After all of the effort she went through to capture Kid Flash, after every failure, finally she had the elusive teen hero in her grasp... and Rouge didn't care even the slightest bit.

"But... but aren't you impressed?"

Madame Rouge stopped, standing still for a moment... and in that moment, Jinx smiled excitedly, believing that she'd finally get the praise that she thought she deserved. But when Rouge turned around and stormed over, she looked enraged... and Jinx had no idea why.

"Impressed? Do you have any _idea _what I just went through? I gave Red X the beating of his life... I captured him, had him at my mercy, and it took me just _ten minutes... _not the week it took you and your pathetic friends to trap THIS loser. After I was done, I had to battle Terra, and I very nearly beat her... had it not been for my earlier fight, I would have crushed her just as easily. And what have _you _been doing through all of this? Driving around, laughing, having fun? You make me SICK."

"...what...?" stammered Jinx, who clearly looked hurt that Madame Rouge didn't appreciate what she'd just done. "But I... but... but-"

"FUCK OFF!" screamed Madame Rouge, turning around and heading back down the street, wanting to get as far away from Jinx and her captive as possible. _"How DARE she bother me with her pathetic problems... I'm trying to take over this city, and she's showing off..."_

Jinx stood speechless for a moment, her entire body trembling... then, she clenched her fists, her entire body beginning to glow.

"Hey! Madame Rouge!"

The enraged shapeshifter stopped again, turning her head to look back at Jinx, her eyes full of contempt. Equally enraged, Jinx pointed her hand at the device keeping Kid Flash trapped... and destroyed it with a single blast of energy, freeing the young superhero, who hopped out of the back of the truck with an expression of surprise.

"_Okay... never expected her to do that," _thought Kid Flash, staring across the street at a now even more-enraged Madame Rouge.

"I told you to _dispose _of him," said Madame Rouge, angrily turning around and looking right into Jinx's eyes. "And you let him go... do you know how much work it will take me to get him back?!"

"Well, he's right here," said Jinx, gesturing to Kid Flash. "If you want him, come get him."

Rouge looked at Kid Flash... then at Jinx... in her weakened state, chasing down someone as quick as Kid Flash was _not _her idea of fun... and instead of going after him, she continued staring at Jinx, her eyes narrowed in anger.

"I assure you, you will _pay _for this insolence later... but now, neither of you are worth my time."

And with that, Madame Rouge turned and continued down the street, leaving Kid Flash to wonder just exactly what had happened. He turned to Jinx, but before he could say anything, they both heard Gizmo yelling from the front of the truck.

"Hey... what the heck did you just do?!" Gizmo shouted. "I worked two whole days on that containment field, and you just blew it up!"

"And I was the one who caught Kid Flash in the first place," Jinx shouted back. "Without him, your stupid containment field would be useless anyway!"

"Grrr... I'm sick of this and I'm sick of you! Me and the moths are leaving... if you wanna come home, ask your new 'boyfriend' to walk you there! Smell ya later, dorkbutt!"

And before Jinx could protest, Gizmo and his truck sped off down the road, with the mutated moths following close behind. This left Jinx and Kid Flash in the middle of the street... and finally, Kid Flash could express his gratitude to Jinx for letting him go.

"Jinx... that was... well-"

"Save it," said Jinx, turning away from Kid Flash and walking off. "The only reason I let you go was to get back at Madame Rouge... you'd better just watch your butt, I'm sure there are a lot of other villains out there who'd _really _like to catch someone like you."

"...thanks for the advice," Kid Flash said quietly, smiling as he watched Jinx walk off solemnly into the night. _"I just wanted you to know that there's someone out there who _does _appreciate what you do..."_

But Jinx wasn't in the mood for romance, or anything else for that matter. She walked down the sidewalk in silence, trying not to show how much she was hurting... even though there was no one to see it. Her idol Madame Rouge had rejected her, her teammate Gizmo had rejected her...

"_This is what I get for being the only smart person I know..." _thought Jinx, letting out a sigh. _"Though I guess it was pretty stupid to let Kid Flash go... my anger really got the best of me that time."_

As Jinx continued to walk, she could hear noises from above... and when she looked up, she could see Speedy and Cheshire leaping from rooftop to rooftop, apparently locked in a fierce battle. She watched the battle for a moment, the two combatants oblivious to her presence... letting her observe to her heart's content.

O-O-O

"Where'd that girl go?" shouted Adonis, searching all around for any sign of Raven, who'd seemed to vanish right in front of his eyes. He turned to the legions of Sladebots following him... and none of them seemed to have any clue to Raven's whereabouts either. "Ugh... I can't believe it, you guys are totally useless."

On the roof above, Raven stood silently, watching Adonis and the Sladebots with an expressionless glare. In one of the alleys below was Beast Boy, about to spring a trap... a trap that he himself had designed, which indicated to Raven one thing.

"_This can't _possibly _go well."_

As Adonis and his robot companions continued to search, they heard a low growling from the narrow alley just to their left.

"Hmm... probably just my stomach," remarked Adonis, gesturing for a few of the Sladebots to go over and search. When they refused, Adonis began to yell at them. "Hey, that Slade guy programmed you to do exactly what I said, so go over there and check it out!"

Shrugging their shoulders, the Sladebots walked over and peered into the alley... and were immediately thrown up into the air, shattered to pieces by a powerful headbutt from Beast Boy, who had transformed himself into a tyrannosaurus rex. As Adonis recoiled in horror and shock, Beast Boy turned toward him, looking right into his eyes and letting out a loud, angry roar.

"...GO STOP HIM! Before I get eaten!" Adonis screamed, turning and fleeing down the sidewalk, leaving the Sladebots to fight his battle for him. The Sladebots all charged forward, piling on top of Beast Boy and trying to bring him down, only to be shaken off by one swing of the green dinosaur's mighty, muscular frame. Several of the Sladebots were thrown through a nearby window, while others were tossed off into the street... but while they were being destroyed, Adonis was making his escape... or so he thought.

"Hello there, Adonis," said Raven, leaping down in front of the fleeing villain and raising up her hands.

"You think you're gonna stop me, little birdie? Just try it..." Adonis charged forward, lowering his head and preparing to strike Raven in the chest. She didn't budge. Instead, she charged up a dark energy blast, which hit Adonis in the head and knocked him flat onto his back. "Unnnnggggh..."

Nearby, Beast Boy was still struggling with the Sladebots, who had begun to regroup and were once again attempting to pile on top of him. He transformed into a snake, which enabled him to slither out of the pile and out of danger... then turned back into his normal form and stepped to the side.

"Raven, a little help!"

Raven looked past Beast Boy and Adonis toward the pile of Sladebots, who were struggling to get untangled from one another. Seeing that they were all in one place, Raven's eyes glanced to the building next to them... and immediately launched into her mantra.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!"

Within seconds, the three-story building tumbled down, burying the Sladebots in a massive pile of bricks and glass. The collapse of the building threw up a cloud of dust that engulfed Beast Boy, clouding his vision and causing him to cough.

"Whew..." coughed Beast Boy, staggering out of the dust cloud and making his way to where Raven was standing. "Nice one, Raven..."

But as he came out of the cloud, he could no longer see Raven... and with Adonis still unconscious on the sidewalk nearby, his friend's whereabouts quickly became a mystery.

"...Raven? Uh, Raven, weren't you just... standing... right there?"

O-O-O

The half-demoness' body flew through several glass display cases, shattering both them and the delicate items that they were holding... and nearby, Malchior watched as Raven's glass-covered body slammed into the far wall, sliding painfully to the floor below.

"You thought you could run from me forever, did you? Thought that you could block me out of your mind?"

Raven weakly stood up, picking shards of glass out of her skin and rubbing the back of her head... as soon as she'd buried the Sladebots, she'd heard Malchior casting a spell, and she could feel herself being thrown through the window of the china shop across the street.

"I was just about to come looking for you, Malchior..." said Raven, staring down her former friend with all of the anger she could muster. "So I could rip you apart myself."

"Oh, have you been harboring your hatred for me that long? I still remember when you actually thought I loved you... you've always been pathetic and worthless."

Not wanting to hear any more of Malchior's taunting, Raven raised her arms and fired hundreds of tiny glass shards at Malchior. The magician responded quickly, reciting a spell and creating a portal that sucked the shards into another dimension... then reciting another spell that caused a miniature explosion beneath Raven's feet. The blast knocked Raven violently into the air, causing her to land some distance away, her right leg landing hard on a sharp piece of broken china.

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" The shard went right through Raven's leg, penetrating several inches and creating a painful puncture wound that began spurting blood rapidly down Raven's calf and ankle. As she winced, Malchior recited another spell, enchanting the shard that had pierced Raven's leg and causing it to heat up to an incredible temperature. As the most painful burning sensation that Raven had ever felt began shooting up her right leg, she let out another scream, which caused Malchior to respond with a sadistic chuckle.

"Tell me, Raven, what's more painful? That shard of glass in your leg, or the pain you felt when you found out my true nature? Tell me the truth, Raven... or I'll make you feel pain worse than you can possibly imagine."

Raven let out another scream, then gritted her teeth and looked over at Malchior, her entire body radiating with dark energy.

"You have no _idea _how much pain I can imagine..."

Raven bit into her lip and slowly pulled the shard of china from her leg. As soon as it was out, her wound began to close, as energy from her body poured in to seal the cut. An equal amount of energy was going into her hand, encircling both it and the shard held within.

"Zelion nethali suthra!"

The shard in Raven's hand slowly began to transform, until it had become a glimmering sword with a blade of white metal. She stood up, and Malchior took a step back.

"Hathio yem gamorti!"

A black-bladed sword materialized in Malchior's hand as Raven rushed toward him. Malchior leapt forward, and the two swords clashed.

O-O-O

Still trapped beneath the crystallized body of Kole, Maddy trembled as the beams of energy that Mad Mod fired from his cane continued to bounce off of Kole's back.

"_I don't know how long Kole can take this... I know she's tough, but this HAS TO be hurting her..."_

"This is beginning to get frustrating, my little ducky..." said Mad Mod, stepping back and charging up energy in the jewel at the end of his cane. "But I'm about to end this once and for all, and when I do-"

A loud roar sounded from behind Mad Mod, who turned around to see Gnarrk standing behind him, holding his club high above Mod's head. Mod simply laughed, zapping Gnarrk's club and transforming it into a black billy club... attached to the hands of a robotic police officer dressed in a British constable's outfit. Maddy could only watch in horror as the robot cop ripped the club out of Gnarrk's hands and began chasing him around the roof with it, in a chase not unlike one would see in the works of Benny Hill. Mad Mod just laughed hysterically as the robot chased Gnarrk around the roof... then turned back toward Kole and Maddy, pointing his cane at them.

"Now, where were we?"

"_I have to do something... if I don't, Kole and Gnarrk are finished!"_

Clenching her fists, Maddy began pushing upward, trying to get the crystallized Kole off of her... watching as the jewel at the end of Mod's cane began to glow brighter and brighter.

"Oh, you ain't getting out of there, lass," said Mad Mod, still laughing to himself. "If I can't blast it without charging up me cane, you're not even close to being able to push that thing off of you, so-"

With a loud, glassy thud, the shimmering body of Kole rolled off of Maddy and was pushed over onto its back... allowing the determined girl to stand up and clench her fists.

"_Sorry, Kole..." _Maddy thought, before staring straight into Mad Mod's eyes. _"But you'll be thanking me for this later."_

As Mod pointed his cane at her, Maddy lunged forward, going low and tackling Mod around the legs with a surprising amount of force. The cane flew out of Mod's hands as he was tackled to the ground, and came down right next to Kole... who transformed back to normal before reaching out and grabbing it in her left hand.

"N...NO!" screamed Mad Mod, wrestling furiously against Maddy's grip as the girl held him down. Kole stood up with the cane and gave a devious smirk... then snapped it in two, causing the robot chasing Gnarrk to fall apart, and causing Mad Mod to advance in age nearly twenty years... if Maddy was strong enough to hold him before, she was _definitely _strong enough to hold him now.

"...this guy turned old," said Maddy, bewildered as she continued to hold Mad Mod to the ground. "Uh... why did this guy turn old?"

"Because the essence of his youth was inside this cane... or something like that," said Kole, giggling to herself. "I think you can let him go now, Maddy."

Maddy released her grip on Mad Mod, walking back over to Kole and leaving the old man to shiver on the roof as Gnarrk angrily walked over to him.

"N...n...no, please don't hurt me..." Mod pleaded, getting on his knees and begging the large caveman for mercy. "I'm just a simple old man...!"

While Maddy and Kole pondered Mad Mod's fate, Maria emerged onto the roof. When she saw that her daughter was all right, she ran over and wrapped Maddy up in a tight embrace, kissing her several times on the forehead while expressing her gratitude in a flurry of harried Spanish.

"Glad to see you too, mom..." said Maddy, tightening her grip around her mother's back before looking over at Kole. "So... I guess we caught two bad guys, huh?"

"Yeah, the other one's downstairs with your mom... well, he _was_... what did you do with Billy Numerous?" asked Kole, prompting Maria to release Maddy and walk over to the stairs.

"He's right down here..."

O-O-O

In Maddy's room, Billy had been tied up to a chair... and when Maria entered, he began struggling violently, quite fearful of the woman he'd once tried to attack.

"Mom... did you... torture him?" asked Maddy, approaching Billy with a look of worry on her face. _"Not saying this guy didn't deserve it, but I can't see my mom ever torturing anyone..."_

"Nope, all I had to do was threaten to torture him and he told me everything he knew," said Maria, giving Billy a devilish smirk that caused him to quickly recoil. "Which reminds me... Maddy, I have a phonecall to make, would you and Kole like to stay here with Billy and keep him company?"

"Sure, mom..." said Maddy, giggling as she and Kole looked at one another, both of them knowing exactly what was coming next.

"We're gonna tickle him, right?"

"Oh yeah," Maddy replied, giggling even more.

"HEY!" Billy shouted, thrashing in his chair as Maria exited the room. "I thought you WEREN'T gonna torture me!"

"She's not," said Maddy, her fingers inching closer and closer to Billy's ribs. "But she never said anything about me and Kole..."

Billy's screams of agony could be heard throughout the entire building.

O-O-O

Cleo pushed Steve away as much as she could, sobbing violently and screaming as her mind filled with terrible memories.

"Cleo, I know you're scared, but... it's all right, you're totally safe with me... I promise, I'm not going to let any of those guys hurt you!"

Steve tried to reassure Cleo as best as he could, but he didn't know anything about handling crisis situations... in his youth ministry group, he'd been taught Bible verses for this sort of thing, but he knew that that wasn't what Cleo wanted to hear at the moment...

"That's the same thing Sanza said, but he lied, and I... I... I..." Cleo couldn't bring herself to admit it, not to Steve, someone she barely knew outside of class... she collapsed into another flurry of sobs, while Steve again started to wonder what exactly could be going on in Cleo's mind.

"Cleo... what happened between you and Sanza? I know it's none of my business, but... I really want to help you... please... just tell me what's wrong..."

Cleo took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down enough to tell Steve exactly what had happened to her... though she didn't know him nearly as well as Rob or Marcy, something about him told Cleo that she could trust him... he was always kind to her, and she knew that if she told him to keep a secret, he'd do it.

"Steve... I... I was raped, okay? Sanza got some guys really mad at him, and they kidnapped me, and I got raped by the people who took me, okay? THAT'S what happened between me and Sanza, all right?!"

Steve's heart sunk to the pit of his stomach. Of all the things to happen to Cleo, one of the kindest and most beautiful girls he knew... he should have figured it out sooner. It was just about the only thing that could've changed her personality so much in such a short amount of time... and while it was understandable that she'd blame Sanza for the whole incident, he knew that it was that anger that was part of the reason that Cleo still felt so terrible... that maybe if she let it go, if she forgave Sanza...

But right now, this wasn't the time for Steve to preach about forgiveness. He remembered that he and Cleo were still in real danger... there were very dangerous people just outside the closet that the two of them were in, and right now, he knew he had to calm Cleo down... if these men were still outside, the two would have to fight their way out of their situation, and in order to do that, Cleo had to be brave.

"Cleo... I... I'm so sorry... I..." He could barely bring himself to say it, 'sorry' wasn't nearly close enough... and Cleo had probably heard it from everyone she'd already told.

"Steve, you don't have to apologize, you're not the one who got me raped..." Cleo replied, letting out a sigh and wiping some of the tears from her face.

"...neither was Sanza."

Cleo turned toward Steve, her expression suddenly becoming very angry... Rob and Marcy had already given her this talk before, they'd tried to persuade Cleo that it wasn't Sanza's fault... but they were wrong, just like Steve was wrong now.

"Whoever those guys were, I know Sanza probably tried to stop them from hurting you... it wasn't his fault that-"

"So it's _my _fault, then? My fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?" Cleo was starting to get enraged, to the point where her hands were tightly grabbing Steve's shirt and pulling him to her... to the point where she was just about ready to deck him. "Don't say another fucking word, you hear me? You say one more thing and-"

"...Jesus would want you to forgive Sanza."

"...what?" replied Cleo, mystified by Steve's sudden invocation of religion, so mystified that her grip on his shirt loosened, and she allowed him to back off slightly. "...what did you say to me?"

"I know you probably don't want to hear about Jesus right now, Cleo, but..."

What was Steve doing? He'd promised himself that he wouldn't launch into any sort of religious spiel... but it seemed that Cleo was listening, and if telling her about Jesus was the only thing that would calm her down, then that's what he would do... so he continued talking, sharing the gospels with Cleo, telling her all that Jesus had done for him, and how, once he'd accepted Christ into his heart, that his life got so much better... but Cleo stopped him about halfway through.

"...I _already _accepted Christ into my heart, Steve, when I was nine years old at a Christian summer camp. I know all about Jesus, I was praying after I got kidnapped, but tell me this, where the hell was Jesus when I was getting raped, huh? Where the hell was he then? You tell me that... if he could've stopped me from getting raped, he would have. But he _didn't_."

"Cleo... God allows evil things to happen in the world because-"

"Because it's some kind of test? Look... I know all about Jesus, but I'm telling you what _I _know. Jesus didn't save me from getting raped, just like Sanza didn't save me... and you can't save me now! Those guys are right outside this door, Steve, right outside just waiting to do horrible things, to me, and to you, and-"

Before Steve could stop Cleo, she opened up the door... but instead of the dozens of men and Sladebots that she expected to be waiting for her, there was no one there... Cleo breathed a loud sigh of relief, wiping away the last of her tears and turning to Steve.

"Cleo, I'm sorry I tried pushing my religion in your face, I just... I just thought it would make you feel better if I..."

As Steve trailed off, Cleo could see the sadness in his eyes... she could see that he truly felt sorry about what had happened to her... but instead of pity, he treated her with compassion, trying to help her in whatever way he could... and in doing so, had managed to clear out a lot of the painful thoughts from Cleo's mind.

"I do feel a bit better... I guess you're right about Sanza, it's... it's not really his fault that..." Cleo could feel something strange welling up inside of her... a great light inside her heart, a calm feeling... she wasn't sure exactly what, but she knew that Steve's words had a lot to do with it. "...he was the one who ended up saving me..."

A loud crash could be heard from a nearby hallway, and the sound of running... lots of people running. Cleo let out a gasp, and Steve's expression was equally fearful... though he knew in his heart what he and Cleo had to do.

"We need to try and help the others, they're still probably trapped somewhere in the school with all those guys," said Steve, turning to Cleo and gently taking her hands in his. "Cleo, I know you're scared, but..."

The strange feeling within Cleo was getting stronger and stronger... she was still afraid, but she felt stronger with each passing moment... she didn't know whether the feeling was coming from Jesus, or from some other divine cosmic force... or perhaps just from within herself... all she knew was that for the first time since she was raped, she felt as if she could stand up to anything in the world.

"You're right, we do need to help them," said Cleo, walking past Steve and going back into the closet so that she could look for something to use against the Sladebots and criminals. "C'mon, help me look..."

O-O-O

Meanwhile, in a hallway some distance away, Rob was leading a group of about fifty other students toward an emergency exit... the only exit in the building that hadn't been sealed off by the villains attacking the school.

"I can see the exit..." said one of the students quietly. "C'mon, we have to try and make a break for it!"

Suddenly, dozens of Sladebots filed in front of Rob and the others from a side hallway about twenty feet in front of them. They were joined by the group of about fifteen violent criminals who'd been broken out of Jump City Prison... and all of them were slowly coming toward the terrified group of students.

"Rob, what are we going to do?" shouted Marcy, trembling as she tightly gripped her boyfriend's hand. "There's no other way out but..."

"But through them..." Rob said, his own hand trembling as he stared down the group of criminals and Sladebots coming toward him. "Everyone, we have to rush them..."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"They'll rip us apart!"

"No way I'm running at them!"

"We don't have a choice!" shouted Rob, kicking open the locker next to him and pulling out the most weapon-like object he could find... a large, wooden baseball bat. "Everyone, come on... LET'S GO!!!"

Letting out a loud, primal scream, Rob rushed the group of Sladebots, baseball bat in hand... Marcy followed him, and several of the students from the group followed as well... then, more of the students, until all of them finally decided to go ahead with Rob's plan, screaming as they charged forward toward the deadly group of villains.

Just as the two groups collided and began to fight, a plastic bucket with white steam emerging from the top was slid into the middle of the groups. In the ensuing clash, it was quickly kicked over, splashing out a cloud of liquid that immediately began to turn into a thick gas... a sweet-smelling gas that wafted over the two fighting groups, causing everyone but the Sladebots to drop to the ground where they were standing. As the Sladebots stood bewildered, another bucket was slid over... this one filled with cloth rags that had been set on fire. The burning rags created smoke, and that smoke set off the school's sprinklers, dousing the Sladebots with water and shorting all of them out.

A few seconds later, Steve and Cleo, both of them wearing gas masks, walked into the hallway and saw it littered with incapacitated Sladebots and the unconscious bodies of their classmates, as well as the fifteen dangerous escaped convicts.

"The fire bucket was a good idea," said Steve, giving Cleo a thumbs-up.

"Well, I knew the chloroform wouldn't work on the Sladebots..." Cleo replied, taking off her gas mask once she knew it would be safe to do so. "Though I know from experience that my friends are going to wake up with some pretty nasty headaches..."

"Let's just work on locking up these criminals somewhere before they wake up," said Steve, removing his own gas mask and dropping it on the ground. He turned toward Cleo... only to have her lips immediately touch his, pulling away about a second later. "W...what was that?!"

"I meant to kiss you on the cheek, then you turned around and..." Cleo was blushing deeply as she spoke, and when she looked at Steve, she could see that he was blushing as well. _"But that was actually kind of nice..."_

O-O-O

Malchior and Raven clashed swords several times in the darkness of the china shop, stumbling over the shattered cases and plates that the earliest stages of their fight had destroyed.

"If you hate me so much," said Malchior, swinging his sword down at Raven's head only to have her parry at the last moment, "then why are you still using some of the curses I taught you?"

Raven didn't respond to Malchior's question... at least not until she'd attempted a few attacks of her own, swinging fiercely at Malchior only to have each of her slashes either dodged or blocked.

"You were only using me," said Raven, "so I figured I might as well return the favor."

She slashed at Malchior several more times, and he was able to parry every blow but the last, which got past the magician's defenses and dealt a quick, painful swipe to his cheek... one that the paper comprising his skin was easily able to repair.

The two continued their swordplay for nearly a minute before Malchior threw down his blade and launched a quick magical blast at Raven's chest. Raven simply used her sword to swat it away... then lunged forward, her blade piercing right through Malchior's chest. The magician let out a gasp, his eyes widening and looking right into Raven's own.

"I know that didn't kill you..." said Raven, her own eyes narrowing into slits. "But I bet it _really_, _really _hurts."

She pushed her sword even deeper into Malchior, who gasped again and wrapped both of his hands around the section of blade closest to the hilt, trying to push the sword out of his body with little success.

"R...Raven..." Malchior gasped, slumping his head. His voice began to change, transforming from the cruel, contemptuous tone he'd had at the beginning of the fight, back to one of pleading, of kindness, the same tone he'd used when he was trying to get Raven to believe that he was her friend. "You can't... can't do this... I'm dying, Raven... and... you're not... a murderer..."

Raven's expression didn't change... she began to push the sword in even deeper, and now the slightest movement made her opponent cry out in pain.

"Now you know how it feels!" shouted Raven, gripping the hilt of her sword with both hands. "Now you know how it feels to be stabbed right in the heart!"

"I... I'm sorry, Raven... I... I... please... forgive me..."

Raven looked even deeper into Malchior's eyes... and as she saw the pain beginning to form in them, she felt a twinge of regret... and her grip on the hilt of her sword began to loosen.

"_He's lying... he's lying... I know he's lying, but... I can't just _kill _him...!" _Raven's hands began to tremble, and she started to pull the sword out of Malchior's chest. She continued to look into Malchior's eyes for any sign of deception... at which point she would simply push the sword all the way in. But his expression remained the same... his face was twisted in pain, his eyes appearing as if he was about to break down into tears. _"He's beaten... there's no way he can recover from this."_

Raven pulled the sword out all the way, and Malchior stumbled back, his hand on his chest.

"Raven... thank you..." gasped Malchior, his legs trembling as a look of genuine gratitude appeared on his face. "Thank you for having mercy on me..."

"It's more than you deserve," Raven replied bitterly, "and don't think you won't still be punished for teaming up with the Brotherhood of Evil."

"Thank you... thank you... thank..."

In an instant, Malchior raised up his other hand, hitting Raven with an enormous beam of dark energy before she could even begin to react. With a loud scream, the half-demoness was thrown back into the wall, and her head hit so hard that she nearly passed out.

"How pathetic!" Malchior laughed, lowering his left hand from his chest and slowly approaching the dazed Teen Titan. "Even after all I did, you were still willing to spare me... you have a heart of gold, my dear, and that's why you'll never truly be a great wizard."

Raven clenched her teeth and looked up at Malchior, her emotions in far too much chaos for her to be able to control her powers. She felt anger, despair, humiliation... she'd trusted Malchior again, and it seemed that it would cost her dearly.

"_I can't believe it... I show him mercy, I show him compassion, and he attacks me a second later? I should've expected this... dammit, I have to focus, if I don't...!!"_

Malchior pointed both of his hands at Raven, and she immediately realized what curse he was about to use... she could sense his every thought, he didn't make even a bit of an effort to hide it.

"_The Curse of Banishment!!"_

"Smart girl," said Malchior coldly, reading Raven's thoughts and staring with glee at the horrified look on Raven's face. He began the incantation, when suddenly, he heard a loud roar from behind him... and just as he turned around, a green tiger pounced.

"_GET AWAY FROM HER!" _thought Beast Boy, swiping into Malchior repeatedly with his powerful claws, ripping away numerous chunks from Malchior's paper flesh as Raven watched in amazement.

"Beast Boy..." whispered Raven, her eyes still wide as she watched Beast Boy unleash his furious assault. "How did you find me?"

Ignoring Raven, Beast Boy continued ripping into Malchior, ignoring the magician's painful cries for mercy and swiping across Malchior's face and midsection. Finally, Beast Boy stopped the assault and detransformed, lifting up the shredded body of Malchior and holding him in place as tightly as he could.

"Raven, you're the only one who can get rid of him for good...!"

"No... NO!" screamed Malchior, desperately pleading with Raven as she wearily rose to her feet and pointed her hands at his chest. He continued to struggle against Beast Boy's grasp, but the beating he'd taken at the changeling's hands was far too severe, and he was unable to escape... leaving him completely at Raven's mercy. "Please... please...!"

"Insenta hova suval xanthor crecix transpera!"

The invocation of the Banishing Curse caused a beam of light to rush forward from Raven's hands, hitting Malchior in the chest and vaporizing him instantly, sending his body and soul to a dimension from which he could never escape. Raven then fell to her knees, her energy almost entirely spent from the casting of the curse. As she bowed her head, Beast Boy rushed over to her, but when he tried to help her up, she pushed him away.

"Beast Boy... I... I..."

Raven's body began to tremble, and she let out a single sob... wiping a tear from her face as the memories of Malchior became too much for her to bear. Beast Boy immediately wrapped his arms around her, and this time, Raven didn't push him away... instead, she looked up into his eyes, glad that she had _someone _there to take away the pain... even if it was Beast Boy.

"Is that why you're always trying to push people away? Because they've hurt you like Malchior...?"

"...he was the only one who ever really accepted me... well... besides all of you," said Raven, leaning her head on Beast Boy's shoulder. "I opened up to him so quickly... when he betrayed me like that, it was such a horrible crushing shock that I..."

"I understand..."

Raven could sense the memories of Terra replaying inside Beast Boy's mind... and though she and Beast Boy had reconciled, her betrayal was still painful... and now that Terra had left the team, those memories were again becoming prominent.

Beast Boy _did _understand what it was like to be betrayed by a dear friend... he knew _exactly _how it felt.

"I know, Beast Boy... thank you..." Raven whispered, a smile slowly forming on her face. "Thank you for saving me."

Beast Boy smiled as well, and slowly began running his hands through Raven's hair... which quickly caused the smile to disappear from Raven's face. She gently nudged him away with his elbow, standing up and brushing the shards of glass from her costume.

"I said 'thank you for saving me', not 'have your way with me', Beast Boy," said Raven, glaring scornfully at Beast Boy and causing him to step back from her. "At _least _wash your hands first."

Beast Boy was a bit dismayed at Raven's rejection, but it was to be expected... Raven did _not _do the touchy-feely thing. Never had, never will.

"I was just, uh... trying to get the glass out of your hair! Really!"

Raven didn't dignify Beast Boy's remarks with a reply... and the two began to walk out of the china shop, only to be stopped by the _last _person they expected to see...

"Robin!" said both Beast Boy and Raven at the same time, both of them equally shocked. Not only had Robin come to get them, but Starfire, Cyborg, Titans East... and nearly every single one of the other young heroes.

"Beast Boy, Raven, it's good to see you..." said Robin, a smile on his face. "I have some good news... I received a call from Maria a few minutes ago, she told me that she found out from Billy Numerous where the Doom Patrol was being kept."

"Are you SERIOUS?!" said Beast Boy, an excited smile on his face.

"And information that I received from Kitten matches the location that Maria gave to us," said Starfire, briefly smiling as she thought back to her interrogation of Robin's blonde stalker.

"They're being held at a large, abandoned research facility about a mile north of this location," said Bumblebee, holding up her communicator, which displayed an overhead shot of the large X-shaped building that the Brotherhood of Evil was using as its headquarters. "We're gonna go storm the place and bust them out."

Beast Boy couldn't wipe the smile from his face. After everything that had happened, after thinking that he'd never see his old teammates again, he finally had a chance to rescue them... and he didn't care how many villains he had to fight in order to do it.

"_Hold on, guys..." _thought Beast Boy, walking alongside Raven as the two rejoined the Titans and their allies in the group of heroes still fighting to save Jump City. _"I'm finally coming to save you!"_

O-O-O

But as the heroes made their way to the Brotherhood's headquarters, one of them was already there... walking the corridors alongside his escort... who, along with being perhaps the most dangerous villain in the city, also happened to be his father.

For the last half hour, Slade had been telling Jericho everything about his deeds in Jump City... his attacks on the city, his search for an apprentice... and even his death at the hands of his second apprentice Terra.

Slade knew that in order to get his son to trust him, he had to tell him _everything_... and whatever Jericho thought, Slade would just have to live with it. He already lived with the knowledge that his actions had led to the permanent crippling of his son.

"Everything I've done since I've come to this city has been an attempt to drive away the pain... the pain of your mother and sister rejecting me, the pain of your ability to speak being taken from you... and I will admit that the only reason I've been searching for an apprentice is so I can feel like a father again."

The two of them entered a small, empty room with a large computer monitor against the back wall. As soon as the door closed, Slade turned toward Jericho and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Joseph... now that you've returned, you deserve to hear the truth... and now that you've heard all of it, whatever you decide to do from this point on is up to you."

For the last half hour, Jericho had listened to his father... listened with varying degrees of sadness, of anger, of disgust... Slade had done horrible things, and Jericho didn't condone for one minute the suffering that his father had caused. Unable to speak, Jericho had listened... but after everything he heard, he had to say something... and without anyone nearby to possess, he communicated with his father the best way that he could... he reached over and took Slade's hand, holding it with its palm facing upward... and while holding it in one hand, he began tracing out letters with the other.

"_Father... what... happened... to... me... is... no... reason... to... make... people... suffer. I... am... terribly... saddened... by... hearing... what... you... have... done. Please... do... not... hurt... anyone... else... again."_

After finishing, Jericho gently released his grip on Slade's hand. Slade said nothing for a moment... then, he threw his fist forward, aiming a powerful punch straight at his son's face. Jericho closed his eyes and looked away... but at the last moment, Slade stopped short... he dropped his arm and turned away from Jericho, his mind in conflict.

"...no... I knew, somehow I knew you'd react this way..."

Slade turned back toward Jericho, reaching up and gently placing his hand on his son's cheek. Jericho started to turn away, then bowed his head, standing still as his father dropped his hand back to his side and walked over to the computer monitor.

"You are my son, and... you can believe what you want. It does not matter... either way, I..." Slade, his heart so hardened and filled with hate, could not bring himself to admit that he loved his son... but Jericho knew, and he gave a quick smile that his father didn't see... despite all that his father had done, Jericho loved him too. "But one thing you told me is wrong. What happened to you is a perfectly acceptable reason to make people suffer... I've just made the wrong people suffer."

After a few seconds of typing, Slade brought up the profile of a middle-aged businessman on the screen. He stared at the screen for several moments, then turned back to Jericho.

"The men who hurt you... I killed them, all of them... all except for one," said Slade, walking back over and seizing his son by the jaw, craning up Jericho's head and pointing at the scar that had been left on his throat, the scar left by the knife wound that rendered Jericho eternally silent. "The man responsible for this... I have finally found him, and as soon as this Brotherhood of Evil business is over, I will make him pay..."

Slade released his grip on Jericho and turned back toward the screen, his eyes scanning over the businessman's profile for several more seconds... before he thrust his fist forward, right through the screen, right through the picture of the man displayed on it... all to Jericho's astonishment and horror.

"_Father... don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you? I love you, and I always will... and I don't want you to hurt anyone! Please... please understand..."_

But somehow, Jericho knew his silent pleas would go unheeded.

O-O-O

After not finding Sanza at the warehouse, Terra began searching for him in the surrounding area... and after several minutes of looking, after several minutes of calling his name, she began to get _very _worried.

"_What if... what if Slade got to him, what if he took Sanza and killed him?" _That was Terra's first thought, and it horrified her... but soon, she began to think a bit more optimistically. _"No... he escaped... but he was hurt so badly when I found him, if someone attacked Sanza after he escaped, he wouldn't have a chance!"_

Terra stood in the middle of the street, looking up into the sky and trying to think of where Sanza could possibly be... she shouted his name again and got no reply, shouted a second time... still nothing.

"_Please... please, I fought so hard to save you... please don't go away again..." _

Terra bowed her head, her fists beginning to clench as she struggled to hold back her tears... but just as the first tear came, she heard Sanza's voice, calling out to her.

"TERRA!!!"

She let out a gasp and looked up... no one there. She looked to her left and to her right, she looked behind her... and then looked forward again.

Red X was running across the sidewalk, into the street toward Terra... he took off his mask, and she could see the smile on his face... could see him dropping his mask and extending his arms... and Terra reached out to him as much as she could.

The two embraced in the middle of the street, not caring who saw them... though with hardly anyone left in the city, no one did. The two embraced for nearly ten seconds before finally backing off from one another, looking into each other's eyes, wide smiles etched on both of their faces.

"Terra... you saved my life, you know that?"

"I owed you... I think I still owe you..."

"You don't owe me a thing... but I'll settle for a kiss, is that-"

Sanza didn't have to say anything more. Terra seized his face with her hands, cupping her palms around his cheeks and pulling his lips to hers.

"I think I just ripped you off," said Terra, a smirk on her face as the kiss ended.

After the initial ecstasy of the reunion, the two finally began to notice the injuries they'd both sustained... their faces were scraped and bruised, and because of Terra's slightly more revealing clothing, the injuries to the rest of her body were clearly evident. Sensing that Terra was uncomfortable, Sanza picked up his mask and put it back on, not wanting her to see his injured face anymore.

"Sanza, I... I think I figured out what I want to do."

X turned to face her, his eyebrows raising beneath his mask. After all that the two had gone through, he wouldn't blame Terra if she never wanted to use her powers again... and perhaps if she never wanted to see him again. She'd been hurt so badly saving him, he could see how she might be traumatized after such a fierce battle.

"Terra... you can do whatever you want to do... I won't tell you how to live your life, not anymore..."

"Sanza..." She reached over and placed her hand on X's shoulder, smiling at him as her eyes began welling up with tears. He started to fear the worst, started to expect that the next words out of Terra's mouth would be something about him being too dangerous for her... that she would reject him just like Cleo did. "I... I used my powers to save you... and if I can do that, then... maybe I can use them to help other people too..."

"Terra, if you don't want to be a Teen Titan, then-"

"But I _do_, Sanza!"

Had X not been wearing his mask, Terra would have seen a look of pure shock... but even with it on, Terra could tell that he was surprised. She giggled, then wrapped him up in another embrace, pulling him closely to her body.

"Thank you... for showing me that my powers _can _be used to help people... I want to be a Teen Titan again..."

"...and all it took was me getting my ass kicked by Madame Rouge," joked Red X, laughing slightly to himself. Now that he knew Terra was safe, now that he knew she was feeling better, he didn't feel nearly so bad about what had happened to him... and he knew that if he ever got into trouble, Terra would be able to save him. "By the way, after I escaped, I... kind of got attacked by Monsieur Mallah."

"...are you okay?"

"I wouldn't be standing here if I wasn't, would I?"

"I guess not..." Terra replied, giggling as she and Red X began to walk together down the sidewalk. "So... I guess the other heroes probably need some help, don't they?"

"Well... yeah, but so do all the people at my school..."

By now, it had been nearly two hours since the first call from his school had gone out... he'd told Robin and the other Titans that he'd take care of it, but... then he'd gotten sidetracked.

"We could probably get there faster if we travel my way," said Terra, levitating X and herself up onto a platform of concrete and flying up high enough to see X's school. "Is that it?"

"Yeah... it looks like the building's been badly damaged... we need to hurry."

O-O-O

Robin led the procession of heroes down the middle of the street, making their way to the Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters as quickly as they could. He and the others had been pushed to their limits... but they'd fought all the way back, and now, they weren't going to let anything stand in their way.

Smoke sifted from nearby buildings as they passed, and a faint red glow could be seen in the darkened sky, a testament to the fires that still burned around the city.

"We're going right to the source... we're going to stop this once and for all!" shouted Robin, trying to encourage his team as well as he could.

"We're gonna kick butt and we're gonna take names, right, team?" shouted Cyborg, prompting a cheer from the rest of the heroes. "BOOYAH!"

"And we're going to rescue the Doom Patrol... and take out the Brotherhood of Evil for good," said Beast Boy to himself. He looked over at Raven, who was still walking next to him, though she wasn't looking his way... she was facing forward, staring straight ahead, focused entirely on the mission._ "It's all right, Raven... whatever you're feeling, what matters right now is saving the Doom Patrol and the city..."_

But just as Robin and the other heroes began to catch sight of the building, they could hear loud yelling from off in the distance... and could see a large tank barreling their way. Behind the tank was an army of Sladebots, as well as nearly every villain that the Titans had faced... with the exception of those few who had been defeated and captured, the remaining villains were still an intimidating bunch, and leading them was General Immortus, standing up in his tank and rallying his troops.

"THERE THEY ARE! AND WE SHALL CRUSH THEM WHERE THEY STAND!" declared the general, waving a large, wooden cane high up in the air.

"Crush this!" shouted Robin, extending his bo staff and beginning to run toward General Immortus and his tank as fast as he could. "TITANS, GO!"

O-O-O

The final battle is about to begin... but there are still some loose ends needing to be tied up! And what diabolical plans does Slade have up his sleeve? There's still plenty of action left, and if you think we're nearing the end, you're going to be pleasantly surprised!


	14. Breaching The Stronghold

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

As Red X and Terra approached Public School 65, they could see that the smoke and flames that were once engulfing a large section of the building were beginning to die down... and through the lingering smoke, they could see several dozen people standing outside near the front of the building.

"Land down there, Terra..." X instructed, pointing to a spot on the front lawn next to the crowd of people. "I think I can see some of my friends..."

"Does that mean they're okay...?" Terra asked, turning to X with a look of concern on her face.

"I think so..."

The stone platform landed on the front lawn, just inside the sidewalk surrounding the building. Terra and X immediately dismounted, running over to the group of students, whose attention was quickly drawn to the two mysterious figures coming toward them. As X got closer, he could pick out Rob and Marcy in the crowd... and a couple of seconds later, he could pick out Cleo as well.

_"Ugh... this might not be good," _thought X, slowing down as he saw Cleo begin to look toward him. Terra slowed down as well, and began wincing once she heard some of the remarks from the students in the crowd.

"It's about time some of you people got here!"

"Where were you when that big tank blew up the cafeteria, huh?"

Terra began to feel guilty... and she wasn't the only one. Red X also felt some of the sting from the comments, knowing that had he not slowed down, enabling Madame Rouge to ambush him, he likely would've been able to stop whatever was happening to his friends at the school as soon as it had started. Still, he was glad to see that his friends were now safe... though he couldn't help but wonder how.

"Is anyone here hurt?" asked Terra, looking around the crowd for any signs that some of the students might be injured. When she saw that everyone was unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief... though she still felt bad about half of the school building getting destroyed. _"I'm sure a lot of these kids don't mind that very much..."_

The group of students began to disperse, many of them likely worried about how their parents would react to the news that their school had been attacked with them inside. Some of them, however, remained... including Rob, Marcy, Steve, and Cleo.

"Steve, could you wait a second...?" Cleo asked, pointing to Red X and Terra. Steve nodded, and Cleo took her leave, nervously approaching X and his partner... her experience that evening had given her a new perspective, not just on what had happened to her a month ago, but on everything... including Sanza. _"Steve's right... I shouldn't keep blaming Sanza, and it's probably why I'm having trouble getting over what happened to me..."_

X stood still for several moments, not knowing what to do as Cleo got closer and closer. Would she still be mad? Was she going to tell him off?

Standing nearby, Terra watched as Cleo came over. She wasn't going to interfere, not unless Cleo attacked Sanza physically for some reason... but when she looked into Cleo's eyes, she could tell that something had changed. The intense sadness, the burning anger, most of it had faded away... replaced by a renewed strength, a strength obviously fueled by whatever had taken place at the school that night.

"Sanza..." Cleo said, very quietly so that any students nearby wouldn't be able to hear X's secret identity. "You and I have... had kind of a falling out..."

"That's an understatement," replied X. He wasn't bitter, but he still deeply regretted everything that had happened between him and Cleo recently... though he didn't regret for a second that he'd entered into a relationship with Terra. "Are you okay?"

"...Steve and I talked. He... said some things, and... well, long story short, I... I think I'm finally able to forgive you for everything that's happened to me. Though I guess there's not really much to forgive... look, I'm not quite ready to be friends with you again, but..."

Cleo looked up into X's eyes, and for the first time in nearly a month, he could see the slightest smile appearing on her face. He could see in her eyes that a great weight had begun to be lifted from her mind... and her forgiveness of him was just another step in removing that weight entirely.

"I'm just... glad you're okay, Cleo," X told her, causing Cleo to reply with a nod. Her smile widened just a bit, and she started to move forward, maybe to hug him... but she still wasn't quite ready to forgive him totally yet. Her recovery would still take a bit more time... but she knew that she had great friends who would help her along, every step of the way.

"I'll see you later, Sanza."

And with that, Cleo turned to go back over to Steve, leaving Red X and Terra alone on the edge of the lawn.

"She's feeling a lot better, isn't she?"

"She is," replied X, turning to Terra and placing a hand on her shoulder. "What about you? I know you're probably still worried about Slade... sooner or later, we're going to have to fight him again."

"I know," said Terra, letting out a sigh. "But I already told you... I'm ready to go back to the team."

"Then we should probably get going... I'm pretty sure the city's still in danger."

Terra replied with a nod, and a few moments later, she and Red X were back up in the skies of Jump City, heading off to assist their allies.

O-O-O

As the two Titan teams and their superhero allies approached, Immortus fired a single shell from the barrel of his tank. Seeing the shell coming toward her friends, Raven flew over to the front of the crowd and formed an energy shield, blocking the explosion just in time. The shockwave from the blast nearly knocked several of the heroes down, but they remained on their feet and continued their charge, until finally, the two groups met and began pairing off for battle.

The first blow was struck by Robin, swinging his bo staff forward at Mammoth, who had advanced to the head of the crowd and attempted to level Robin with an elbow to the head. The Boy Wonder easily ducked under the elbow, but the staff did little damage to Mammoth's thick, durable frame... he was knocked a step back, but was still mostly unharmed.

"Prepare to meet your doom, Teen Titans!" shouted Control Freak, wielding his remote as Aqualad and Hotspot came running toward him. He pointed the remote at them and pressed a button, causing the two of them to suddenly splice together. Aqualad found his head mounted next to Hotspot's on top of a body comprised of fire and flesh.

"Okay... this feels _really _weird..." Aqualad commented, trying desperately to pull away from Hotspot. "And something in my chest is really starting to hurt...!"

"That's because I'm made of fire, and you have power over water..." said Hotspot, his voice becoming increasingly worried as he realized what was about to happen. "And those two things..."

"Don't mix very well..." Aqualad continued, his eyes widening just before an enormous explosion engulfed them both, much to Control Freak's delight.

"Control Freak: 2, Teen Losers: 0..." chortled Control Freak, doing a victory dance in the middle of the street.

"That is _entirely _unnecessary," said Dr. Light, pointing two large laser guns at an advancing Wildebeest. "Now watch and learn how to stop a stampeding animal..."

Dr. Light fired a beam of energy from each of his lasers, but Wildebeest simply leapt over it, before coming down at Dr. Light with a powerful kick aimed straight at his head. Dr. Light let out a gasp before being instantly floored, knocked to the asphalt by the kick and put in a daze as the victorious Wildebeest stood over him. The animalistic hero let out a snort, just before being swatted down himself by a furious blow from an electric guitar.

"No, _that's _how you stop a stampeding animal!" shouted Punk Rocket, pumping his fists victoriously, only to be hit from behind by a flurry of Starbolts and thrown across the street. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"

As the superhero brawl continued, General Immortus watched from the safety of his tank, looking around and smiling knowingly to himself.

_"Our numbers are superior..." _thought Immortus, his arms neatly folded across his chest. _"The Titans and their allies cannot keep this up forever... and soon, they will fall."_

Suddenly, the sound of a loud truck horn could be heard... the fighting briefly stopped, as the heroes and their villainous opponents looked down the street to see a pair of headlights heading their way... accompanied by a dozen sets of large, brightly glowing eyes.

"What the heck is going on...?" stammered Cyborg, who was fighting Mumbo and Kardiac alongside Bumblebee. "That thing looks like a... TRUCK!!!"

Sure enough, it was Gizmo and his truck, along with the twelve moths that he'd acquired from Kitten and Fang in exchange for Robin. He blasted his horn several times, before steering toward a large group of heroes and villains, not caring who he ran over.

"Out of my way, slimesuckers, Gizmo's coming through!" The baldheaded miscreant blasted his horn again, just before nearly running down Thunder, Lightning, Atlas, Kid Wykkyd, and Killer Moth... who was especially surprised to see Gizmo's unusual entourage.

"HEY!" shouted Killer Moth as he leapt out of the way of the truck and rolled onto the sidewalk. "Those are my moths!"

"They're mine now, sleazebreath," said Gizmo, parking his truck in the middle of the road and climbing out of the cabin with a smile on his face. "Now attack the good guys!"

Gizmo's new pets obliged, bombarding the crowd of combatants with a hail of laser fire. The laser fire was so intense that Raven was unable to block it for more than a few seconds with her shield... and despite a few comedic misses involving villains getting blasted, the moths had soon knocked down all the heroes... including Robin, who took a direct hit to the chest and was nearly knocked unconscious before skidding across the road and ending up in front of Starfire.

"ROBIN!" screamed Starfire, her hands lowering to the burn that the laser had created on her teammate's chest. "You are damaged... badly damaged..."

"Starfire..." Robin gasped, coughing up several drops of blood and slowly trying to get back to his feet. "We... can't quit... we have to... stop them...!"

In response to Gizmo's wanton attacks, General Immortus had closed the lid of his tank, preferring to watch the fight on the television monitors inside... as numerous heroes fell to Gizmo's attack, a pleased smile crossed his wrinkled face.

"Though I cannot agree with the wanton nature of his attack, that Gizmo child has decimated the heroes... not a single one has been left standing," said Immortus to himself. "It is only a matter of time now before we claim victory..."

O-O-O

On a nearby rooftop, Speedy and Cheshire were engaged in a fight of their own... and though Speedy could see the smoke and explosions of the main battle from where he was, he knew that if he wanted to join the fight, he'd have to first go through this dangerous girl...

"I guess you're not gonna let me go join my friends, are you?" Though Speedy had taken quite a beating in the fight, with numerous cuts on his face and chest inflicted by Cheshire's claws, he still kept his joking spirit... and while Cheshire was currently winning, the few rips on her costume were testament to the fact that she wasn't entirely unscathed. She replied to Speedy's comment with a simple shake of her head, then leapt at him again, swinging the sleeves of her kimono down at Speedy's arms in an attempt to tie him up. He leapt back, narrowly avoiding the attack, before loading an arrow into his bow and taking aim at Cheshire's midsection. _"I hope this works..."_

Speedy let the arrow fly, and his aim was perfect. It soared right to its mark... but unfortunately, Cheshire was no longer there when it arrived. She'd jumped up again, allowing the arrow to pass just below her feet instead of hitting its intended target. She then came at Speedy and attacked with a series of punches and kicks, which he was able to block with some effort. As Cheshire leaned back to headbutt Speedy, he beat her to the punch, elbowing her right under the chin and knocking her back. He then took aim with another arrow, and this time, he connected.

The explosion sent Cheshire flying back, but once she'd gotten halfway across the roof, she somersaulted, while at the same time launching her sleeves at Speedy once more. Not expecting them this time, Speedy was unable to dodge, and the sleeves looped around his arms, pulling him closer and closer to Cheshire... until finally, he was right in front of her face. She released him from the sleeves and swiped him twice across the chest, making several gashes that crossed in six different spots. Speedy cried out in pain, collapsing to his knees at Cheshire's feet.

_"Damn... she got me good..." _thought Speedy, looking up at Cheshire's face, concealed by the mask that rendered it an eternal smile. "I don't suppose you'd let me see your face before you finished me off?"

Cheshire didn't respond... instead, she thrust her claws forward, right at Speedy's throat. Suddenly, Cheshire could feel something beneath her feet... and started to lose her footing, right before the roof collapsed underneath her and she fell through a small hole. Speedy stared straight ahead in bewilderment, before his eyes caught someone else standing at the edge of the roof.

"...Jinx?"

The pink-haired H.I.V.E. member leapt down from the small ledge that formed a barrier between the roof and the street below, walking to Speedy across the cemented roof floor, an emotionless gaze on her face.

"But... I thought you were working with them...?"

"Yeah, well, I don't _feel _like working with them right now," said Jinx, stopping at the edge of the hole that she'd created to make Cheshire fall and looking across it at Speedy, who was still on his knees. "Some of the people who I thought were my friends, I'm not so sure about anymore... so I decided to test the waters over on the side of good, see if some of you 'heroes' appreciated me more than my so-called friends do."

"Uh... well, I'm pretty grateful right now," replied Speedy, blinking a couple of times, a slick smile on his face. "If you want, I could kiss your feet..."

"...not interested, weirdo," muttered Jinx, rolling her eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

Jinx was interrupted by Cheshire, who leapt up through the hole Jinx's powers had made and tackled her pink-haired attacker, pinning her to the ground and placing her claws at Jinx's throat. Jinx let out a loud gasp, all of her air being forced out by having Cheshire's knees on her chest.

_"You will pay for your betrayal," _thought Cheshire, her claws right at Jinx's throat._ "And then I'll finish what I started with Speedy..."_

As Jinx let out a horrified gasp, a bright blur slammed into Cheshire's stomach, knocking her across the roof and causing her to land hard on her back some distance away. When Jinx looked up, she could see Kid Flash standing next to her, reaching down and offering her a hand.

"May I be of assistance, little lady?" Kid Flash said, a chivalrous smile on his face. Jinx gave a surprised nod, taking Kid Flash's hand and allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

"Hey... what about me?" asked Speedy, still on his knees and favoring his injured chest. As Kid Flash gave him a glare, Speedy sighed and helped himself up, reaching a standing position at the same time as Cheshire, who was now breathing heavily, angrier than ever.

"It looks like you're outnumbered, unless this girl here wants to go back to being evil again," said Kid Flash, indicating Jinx, who gave a slight giggle. It seemed that she'd finally started to come around... by saving her life, Kid Flash had finally managed to charm the pink-haired H.I.V.E. leader.

"I think I'll stick with you guys for a while," Jinx replied, looking over at Cheshire. "Which means that your luck has just run out."

Cheshire stared across the roof at her three opponents... she'd been sent to take out Speedy, but this turn of events was most unfortunate... and as good as she was, she knew she couldn't take on three people at once, especially since all of them had powers about as impressive as her own. She took a step back toward the edge of the roof, then leapt off, still facing Speedy and the others. The archer, slightly worried as he saw Cheshire plummet from the side of the building, ran over to the edge and looked down to see if she was all right... but by the time he looked, Cheshire had completely disappeared.

"Damn... and I just about had her, too..."

"Looked more to me like you were just about to get killed," said Jinx, her hands on her hips as she walked over to Speedy alongside Kid Flash. "Of course, I'm one to talk..."

"No thanks necessary," said Kid Flash, looking over at Jinx and smiling as his eyes met hers. "It's just what friends do."

"Hey, who said we were friends?!" Jinx replied indignantly. "Like I told arrow boy here, I'm just working with you guys until my old teammates show me some appreciation..."

"Well, I'm glad to see you've finally started coming around..." said Kid Flash, still smiling as he reached over and took Jinx's hand in his own. To his surprise, she didn't pull away... she just looked up at him and began to smile. "And whether you feel the same way or not, I consider you a friend."

Jinx didn't say anything... she just looked slightly away, a blush beginning to appear on her cheeks. Before the tender moment could get any more so, Speedy interrupted, pointing out the large cloud of smoke still streaming from a nearby street.

"Hey, what say we go help out the others now? It looks like they're in trouble..."

O-O-O

The heroes were just starting to make a recovery after being bombarded by Gizmo's moths... which had already begun to recharge for another attack.

"Robin... I am not sure if you should be standing so soon after the damage you have sustained..." said Starfire, trying to dissuade Robin from getting back into the fight. But the heroes' leader wasn't about to quit, no matter how badly injured he was... his friends and his city were in danger, and as long as he was still breathing, nothing could stop him from doing what he needed to do.

"Starfire, go take care of those moths, don't let them attack again..." Robin ordered, nudging her away and walking toward one of the villains. "Hurry!"

Starfire gave an affirmative nod and flew up to combat the mutated moths before they could recharge their lasers. She was joined by Raven and Bumblebee, but before the three could get anywhere near the hovering creatures, Gizmo floated up to them on his jetpack, a devious look on his face.

"You three ain't getting anywhere _near _my moths..." said Gizmo, holding a large remote control in his hands. "And here's why!"

Gizmo pressed a button on the remote, causing three large, metallic tentacles to shoot out of the sides of his jetpack. The tentacles ensnared Raven and Bumblebee, but Starfire was able to fly up just in time, avoiding their restricting grasp. Gizmo pressed another button, causing the final tentacle to snap back toward Starfire... but she dodged again, this time by ducking below.

"Robin told me to stop your moths, and that is what I am going to do!" Starfire shouted, flying forward and kicking Gizmo across the face. He let out a scream and flew into the side of a nearby building, causing the tentacles ensnaring Raven and Bumblebee to loosen, freeing Starfire's two teammates.

"Nice move, but I was just about to get out myself..." said Bumblebee, shooting Starfire a smile. "Though I guess that's not really important... we got a job to do!"

Starfire nodded, and the three girls flew forward, soaring past Immortus' tank in the direction of the moths. Back on the ground, Herald had his hands full dodging the combined attacks of Cinderblock, Overload, and Plasmus. Whenever he would use his horn to suck one of them into a portal, the other two teamed up on him, beating him up long enough for the third to be able to re-emerge.

"I need some _serious _help over here," Herald shouted, leaping over a punch from Cinderblock, before barely dodging a blast of sludge from Plasmus. "Anybody wanna lend a hand?"

The call to battle lured Argent and Pantha over to make the assist, with Pantha charging into Cinderblock at full speed, and Argent using her energy blasts to knock back Overload. As Argent gave Herald a friendly thumbs-up, a blast of red electricity hit her in the back, causing her to let out a scream and collapse to the ground.

"Argent!" shouted Herald, rushing to her aid only to be hit with a similar blast, which forced the horn from his hands and brought him to his knees. Nearby, Cinderblock let out a loud laugh, kicking Herald in the chest and knocking him through the window of a nearby building. With her limbs tingling in pain, Argent tried to crawl over and help him, but a man carrying a large, sparking weapon stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"Now that you've had a taste of my Xynothium bolt-thrower," sneered Professor Chang, laughing as he looked down at the helpless, grey-skinned heroine, "Perhaps you would like to become the first test-subject of my new cocooning gun?"

Chang reached into the large, white case on his back, taking out a glowing red capsule and swapping it with the capsule loaded into the gun he was carrying. The sparks disappeared from the gun, but as Chang loaded up his new capsule, Argent could tell that the weapon was still very dangerous. She tried to stand, but the gun was soon pointed right in her face.

"Say good night, dear... it's the last thing you'll be able to say for quite some time."

But just as Chang began to fire the gun, he could hear a loud torrent of Spanish shouting from just behind him... and as he turned around, he was knocked off his feet by Mas y Menos, who ran over to Argent and stood protectively in front of her as Chang landed on his back nearby, the gun skidding away from his hands.

"Do you two little guys have some kind of 'Argent in danger' sense that I don't know about?" joked the grateful heroine, kissing both of her saviors on the tops of their heads. The two Mexican twins blushed extremely brightly, obviously happy with their friend's sudden show of thanks.

By now, Gizmo's moths had been able to fully recharge, and their eyes were glowing brightly in preparation to unleash a devastating hail of laser fire on the exhausted heroes. This time, however, the heroes had a response... Starfire, Raven, and Bumblebee were hovering in front of the moths, their hands joined as they formed a wall to block off the incoming laser fire, while also preparing an attack of their own.

"Starfire, Bumblebee, I want you both to focus... we're going to hit them with everything we have!" shouted Raven, who was positioned in the center of the three-person chain. The two girls nodded, closing their eyes and concentrating all of their energy, channeling it into Raven's body. "Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!"

An enormous, spiral-shaped beam of black, green, and yellow energy flew toward the crowd of moths at the same time that they unleashed their second laser attack. Robin and Cyborg, both extremely concerned about the fate of their friends, watched in awe as the beams collided, creating a huge explosion in the sky.

"Whoa!" Cyborg shouted, averting his eyes slightly from the bright, intense flash.

_"Starfire..." _As Robin peered through the light and smoke for any sign of Starfire, he could hear a loud voice from behind his back.

"You better keep your eyes on the prize, Robin... because mine's locked right on the back of your head!" It was See-More, taking the perfect opportunity to catch the Boy Wonder off guard. As his eye lit up and became red, Robin turned around... only to receive a painful laser blast right to the face. He let out a scream and was knocked to the ground, and See-More got ready to blast him again. "I don't know how you were able to bust everybody out, but this time I'm gonna make sure you don't escape!"

Thinking quickly, Robin shot his Birdcable at See-More. The cable looped around the H.I.V.E. member's waist, catching him off-guard and enabling Robin to flip him backwards onto the concrete. See-More quickly got up and tried to blast Robin, but Robin knocked away the laser with his staff, following up with another swing that caught See-More right on top of his head, knocking him unconscious.

Nearby, Beast Boy had managed to keep a group of Sladebots at bay by transforming into a gorilla... and now, he had his eyes on General Immortus' tank.

_"If I can kick HIS butt, maybe I can end this fight right away!" _thought Beast Boy, leaping on top of the tank and grabbing the lid with both hands. _"Come on..."_

Beast Boy tugged at the lid with all his might, and after a few seconds of strenuous effort, he was finally able to pry it off. Inside, General Immortus, armed only with a sword, could do little to keep Beast Boy from picking him up and throwing him out... and he let out a loud, surprised gasp.

_"It's over for you, Immortus," _thought Beast Boy. He reached down into the open tank, but before he could get his hands on Immortus, a powerful fist struck him in the back of the head, knocking him off the tank and back out onto the street. The fist belonged to Monsieur Mallah, who had recovered from his battle with Red X, and was now ready to join the big fight against the heroes... much to General Immortus' delight.

"It is good to see you, General," said Mallah, a smile on his face. The general gave him a nod, but just as Mallah began to turn back toward the battle, a barrage of explosives slammed into his face and chest, knocking him away from the tank with as much force as Mallah's punch had exerted on Beast Boy. The angry gorilla was knocked flat on his back, and as he stood up, he could see a very familiar figure standing on a nearby rooftop, looking down at him.

"Hey, big guy..." said Red X, with a smiling Terra standing at his side. "Remember me?"

Nearby, Beast Boy had detransformed, and was just picking himself up from the ground... when he saw who was with Red X, he let out an excited squeal.

"Terra! You're back!"

Terra simply smiled, leaping off the roof and levitating a chunk of concrete under her feet so that she could float gently down to Beast Boy. She gave him a tight hug, glad to see that her changeling friend was safe and sound.

"It's good to see you again, Beast Boy..." said Terra, smiling as she looked into Beast Boy's eyes for the first time in nearly a week. "I've really missed you..."

A powerful laser blast slammed into the ground between Beast Boy and Terra, sending the two flying off in opposite directions. The blast came from one of Gizmo's moths... one of the five that had not been knocked out by the powerful blasts levied at them by the three female Titans. The remaining seven moths were on the ground, along with Starfire, Raven, and Bumblebee... unlike the moths, the girls were still conscious, but all of them were exhausted, and groaning in pain... which left them prime targets for Monsieur Mallah, who had forgone any return bout with Red X in favor of attacking the heroes whom he saw as the weakest links.

"I will snap all of you like twigs..." said the smiling gorilla as he lumbered over to the three fallen ladies. Starfire, Raven, and Bumblebee slowly began to pick themselves up from the ground... but with their powers mostly exhausted in the attack on the moths, they all realized that they would be no match for the intimidating Mallah.

"I will not let that happen...!" declared Starfire, bravely standing up and clenching her fists, her eyes taking on a bright, green glow. Mallah simply responded by grabbing the Tamaranian by her throat and holding her high up in the air. As Starfire let out a scream, an arrow struck Mallah right in the chest, knocking him away from Starfire and over to the sidewalk. He looked across the street, and to his surprise, saw Speedy staring at him from the alley, a bow pointed right at his head. Mallah got up and started running over to attack Speedy, only to be hit in the chest by Kid Flash's head. The supersonic headbutt sent Mallah flying again, this time landing next to the shattered window of a florist's shop... angrily, he stood up and shook his head, obviously not expecting having to deal with the arrival of two new heroes.

_"Where are all of these people COMING from?"_

As Mallah started to run toward Kid Flash, he got a tap on his shoulder... he turned around and saw Jinx standing behind him, holding a big bouquet of roses in her hand.

"There you are... help me deal with one of these pests, right now!" ordered Mallah, obviously unaware of Jinx's turn to the side of good.

"Okay, but... I came to give you these flowers, I'll be really sad if you don't take them," Jinx replied in a deceptively sweet tone. As the bewildered gorilla reached forward to take the roses, they suddenly began to grow, at a highly accelerated rate... and soon, their thorny branches began to wrap around Mallah's body, entangling him in just a matter of seconds.

"What... WHAT IS THIS IMPUDENCE?" shouted Mallah, struggling as the thorny branches pinned his arms and began cutting into his flesh. "Aaaaagggh... this is... this is treason!"

"Yeah, I know," said Jinx, a devilish smirk on her face. "Isn't it fun?"

O-O-O

Slade was now in another area of the Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters, downloading as much information as he could from the control console in the back of the room. Jericho simply watched in silence, occasionally peering over his father's shoulder at the screen to view what was being downloaded.

_"Building schematics, city power grids, police coverage maps, federal anti-terrorism databases... what in the world is my father up to?" _Jericho knew full well of Slade's plans to get revenge on the man whom he saw as being most responsible for his son's debilitating injury... but beyond that, he knew very little... and he could only imagine how deep his father's plans truly went.

"You may not understand why I feel as if I have to do this... I do not expect you to, this is what I must do in order to rectify the damage that has been done... both to you and to the rest of our family." As he was speaking, Slade did not look back at Jericho... he simply continued to stare at the screen and watch as the information downloaded onto a disk that he had inserted into the computer.

It had been the entire reason that Slade had joined up with the Brotherhood of Evil in the first place. He didn't need their brilliance, or their schemes... all he needed was their information, information he'd been unable to acquire on his own. If the alliance led to the destruction of the Titans, that was all the more better... but ultimately unnecessary. He didn't care how the battle for control of Jump City went... he contributed a few hundred Sladebots, and that was it. The result of the battle was irrelevant... as long as Slade got what he wanted, the mission was a success.

His son coming to the city had been an unexpected hitch... or a blessing, Slade wasn't quite sure. He was grateful to have the chance to explain his actions to his son, but somehow, he knew how Jericho would respond. All through the boy's life, he'd been a kind, gentle-hearted soul, never desiring to do harm to any living creature unless it was necessary to protect another innocent life.

_"But in time, Joseph, you _will _understand... that much I can promise you."_

Slade withdrew the disk from the console and turned to his son, who stared at him with the same wide, worrisome expression that he'd been wearing since Slade had first told him of his revenge plan.

"If you have something to say to me, now would be the best time."

"...I wasn't aware that this was 'Bring Your Kid To Work Day'."

Slade and Jericho both looked over toward the entrance of the room... standing in the doorway was Derek Voscoti, a casual smile on his face.

"That _is _your son, right?" asked Voscoti, pointing down at Jericho. Slade didn't say a word... but Jericho, seeing the perfect opportunity, looked right into Voscoti's eyes... and an instant later, was inside the man's body.

"Father," said Jericho, walking over to Slade and using Voscoti's voice to speak, "I... I implore you, please don't do what you're thinking of doing... I love you, and I always _will _love you... you don't have to prove anything to me!"

"This isn't about proving anything, Joseph. This is about payback... this is about your mother and sister abandoning me, about me never getting to hear your voice again... do you know how much it hurts to have to hear you speaking through that pathetic puppet? DO YOU?!"

For the first time, Slade allowed his agony to show... allowed the painful memories of what had happened to his son to briefly overshadow his normally calm demeanor... and in the one eye he still had left, Jericho could see an intense sadness... this was a man whose family had been destroyed, a man who felt so much pain that he then became driven to inflict that pain on others... and for a second, Jericho pitied that man.

Jericho clenched his fists tightly... didn't know what to say to make his father stop whatever he was going to do... he began trembling, and a few seconds later, he phased out of Voscoti, emerging a few feet away near the corner of the room. The recently possessed man let out a gasp, looking around for a moment and wondering what had just happened to him. As he did so, Slade pushed him away from the door, turning back toward his son one last time.

"I don't care if you try to stop me... in fact, I expect you to. Go ahead and send the Titans to stop me... I'll crush them, just like I'll crush the man who hurt you. But until then, I have a bit of other business to take care of... goodbye, Joseph."

And with that, Slade was gone, leaving Jericho alone in the room with Voscoti. The still-nervous businessman looked back at Slade, then back over at Jericho, pointing at the boy as he slowly backed out of the room.

"You're... you're weird!" Voscoti shouted, before turning and running from the room as quickly as he could. Jericho completely ignored Voscoti's comment, only focusing on what his father had just told him... and how, no matter what he said or did, there was no way he was going to be able to stop Slade from carrying out his plans.

Now racked with intense guilt, Jericho huddled in the corner of the room, curling up as tightly as he could and trembling violently.

Then, he began to sob.

O-O-O

Terra stood up, groaning in pain... the impact of her body against the concrete aggravated many of the injuries that she sustained in her battle against Madame Rouge, and she could feel a dull ache in every part of her body.

_"Yep, I guess I really am a Teen Titan again..." _thought Terra, smiling and looking up at the five mutated moths still hovering in the air. _"Now to bring those things down..."_

The blonde lifted her arms and pried up several pieces of concrete, throwing them all up into the air at the big moths, who found themselves too large to dodge the projectiles. They were battered severely, and two of them were knocked out of the sky... with the three that remained now focusing all of their attacks on Terra. They began to send a series of laser blasts Terra's way, and she quickly crouched down to defend herself... only to have Red X leap in front of her at the last moment and block the attacks with a Xynothium shield.

"You need help, Terra?" asked the thief calmly.

"Not really, but I'd still be glad to get it," she replied, smiling and taking a defensive stance behind her boyfriend. "But if you get hurt, I'm jumping in..."

"I won't get hurt."

Red X reached up and fired out two large projectiles at two of the moths. The projectiles morphed into flexible metal bands that locked around the moths, pinning their wings and bringing them quickly to the ground. The moths struggled and squirmed next to their unconscious siblings, while the final one remaining began to recoil in anticipation of the thief's next attack. Just as Red X crouched down and began to fire, a large, metallic piece of metal slammed into him, pinning him to the wall of the nearest building.

"Hey... what the...?" Red X struggled in disbelief, looking down at the thing keeping his arms and legs pinned... it looked just like one of his own Xs. "Who's stealing my technology?"

"This is so awesome!" laughed Gizmo, who was now holding Dr. Chang's all-purpose Xynothium gun and loading it up with several cartridges. He pointed it at Terra, who glared at him with an angry look on her face. "Now that I have Red X's powers, you wanna hook up with me, or-"

Terra thrust out her hands, causing a slab of concrete to burst up from the ground and hit Gizmo, knocking him up into the air. He pointed the gun at the ground and shot out a blast of Xynothium goo, allowing him to stabilize himself and land on his feet. As Terra ran over to continue her attack, Red X continued to struggle against the wall, watching as Starfire walked over to him. When she saw the situation she was in, she began to giggle.

"Now this certainly is familiar..." Starfire mused, smiling slyly.

"Just get me down," X muttered.

Terra dashed across the street toward Gizmo, who was standing on the sidewalk and pointing his Xynothium gun right at her. As soon as she got closed, he fired a stream of Xynothium goo that buried the blonde geomancer in rather short order.

"Let's see you get out of _that_!" remarked Gizmo, sticking out his tongue at the trapped Teen Titans. Raven was standing just to Gizmo's right, and at point-blank range, was about to hit him with an enormous blast that would almost certainly put him out of commission.

"Azarath, metreon, zin-"

Just in the nick of time, Gizmo spun around and blasted Raven with the gun, shooting out an X that sealed her lips and stopped her chant.

"AHAHAHAHAHA, A GOD AM I!!!" shouted Gizmo, doing a victorious little dance before kicking Raven in the chest, knocking her onto her back. "Any other pitsniffers wanna try and stop me?"

"Yeah," said Cyborg, running at Gizmo and throwing back his fist in preparation for a punch. "I do."

Cyborg's fist struck Gizmo squarely in the nose, knocking him onto his back, but not before Gizmo had blasted Cyborg with an electro-magnetic pulse charge that hit the mechanical man in the chest, sending a fierce wave of electricity through his body and shorting out his circuits. As a screaming Cyborg collapsed to the ground, Gizmo stood up and began rubbing his nose, which had begun bleeding slightly.

"Oh... OH! You little... grrr... nobody makes me bleed my own blood!" shouted Gizmo, pointing his Xynothium gun right at Cyborg's head. "I'm gonna short you out for good!"

Gizmo fired the gun, but instead of hitting Cyborg with another charge, the entire apparatus exploded, showering Gizmo in fire and Xynothium goo. He shook the goo off of his body and began looking around, stopping cold when he saw his former teammate Jinx waving at him, giggling loudly.

"Jinx... what the... you traitor!"

"Who's the dorkbutt now, huh?" said Jinx, smirking at Gizmo as he began fuming on the sidewalk, angrily cursing to himself. "Looks like somebody picked the wrong side."

Suddenly, Jinx found herself lifted up violently by Mammoth, who wrapped his hands around her wrists and held her high above the ground.

"Yeah," said Mammoth, chuckling as Jinx struggled in his grasp. "You."

As Jinx continued to fight, Gizmo stood up and walked over to her, before punching her violently in the stomach.

"The H.I.V.E. doesn't take too kindly to traitors, you know..." said Gizmo, his teeth clenched in rage. Jinx struggled a bit more, then bowed her head, knowing that she was at the mercy of her former teammates.

_"This is gonna be painful..." _thought Jinx, closing her eyes and preparing for the worst. The sneering Gizmo produced a miniature, scorpion-like robot, holding it up to Jinx's face so that she could see it in all its glory. When she didn't open her eyes, Gizmo punched her again, forcing her to look at the robot in his hand.

"This thing is one of my coolest inventions... it latches itself to your body and stings you over and over again with its tail... and once it's on, it's impossible to get off!"

"...you had something like that and you never used it on the Teen Titans?" remarked Jinx, stunned by her former teammate's incompetence. "Ugh, no wonder I decided to leave the H.I.V.E... you guys are _idiots!_"

"Shut up! Now I'm gonna put two of these scorpions on you!"

But just as Gizmo moved forward to put the scorpion on Jinx, Mammoth's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he dropped his captive to the ground. Gizmo blinked his eyes for a moment in bewilderment, only to have a small rock hit him in the head, knocking him out as well.

"...Terra?" said Jinx, standing up and looking behind where Mammoth had been standing to catch a glimpse of her unlikely savior. The blonde was standing with her hand on her hip, her mouth curved into a smirk. "Why did you...?"

"If my friends can forgive me for trying to kill them a year ago, I can forgive you for a couple of catfights," said Terra, extending her gloved hand over to Jinx in an offer of camaraderie. "Friends?"

Jinx looked at Terra's hand for a moment, then gave a smile of her own and reached over. The two were about to shake hands when another bright green laser blast slammed into the ground between them, knocking them away from one another again. The blast had been fired by the one remaining moth not rendered unconscious or incapacitated... and was followed up by two more, which Terra had to roll out of the way in order to dodge.

"UGH!" screamed Terra, frustration clearly evident in her voice. "I am getting so sick of those stupid things!"

"Allow me," said Jinx, launching a pink energy blast upward, directly into the moth's chest. The blast caused the moth to instantly explode, showering both girls in sticky, pink goo. "...spluck!"

"That was _not _my idea of stopping it," said Terra, wiping the goo from her body and shooting Jinx an annoyed glare. "But I am glad it's gone."

Gizmo's twelve moths were finally out of the fight, and many of the other villains were having similar bad luck... which General Immortus could plainly see. He'd rolled his tank back from the middle of the battlefield and was now watching from a relatively safe distance down the street. As more and more of his legions of villains were knocked out, he could see his once unstoppable plans for the destruction of the city and its heroes slipping through his fingers... and once Robin's bo staff smashed the last of the Sladebots, Immortus knew he had but one remaining chance for victory.

_"If I want this battle won, I'm going to have to win it myself..." _thought the general, rolling his tank back toward the field of battle. Back up the street, Control Freak, the last of the villains who was still conscious, found himself surrounded by nearly all the heroes, including Aqualad and Hotspot, who had separated from one another after the explosion.

"Stay back! All of you, stay back!" shouted the overweight villain, randomly pointing his remote at the heroes as they slowly advanced toward him. "I've got a remote control and I know how to use it! Even the buttons that nobody knows how to use!"

"Give it up, Control Freak, it's over," said Robin, smiling confidently. "You're going back to jail where you belong."

"I heard they just passed a new law," added Red X. "The only channels available on prison cable are those crappy educational ones. You know the ones I'm talking about."

"...you mean the channel that has _Mythbusters _on it?" said Control Freak, a brief glint of hope in his eyes.

"No," said Red X. "The other crappy educational channels."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" screamed Control Freak, falling to his knees and dropping his remote to the ground.

"...do we have to knock him out?" asked Raven sarcastically. "He looks pretty out of it from where I'm standing."

A huge explosion right next to Control Freak sent all of the heroes flying, and immediately knocked the remote-wielding villain unconscious, throwing his battered body through the nearest window. Robin was the first to pick himself up from the ground, and when he did, he saw a horrific sight.

"Immortus...!"

"That's right, fools," said the general, pointing the artillery cannon of his tank at Robin and firing again. The resulting explosion blasted the Boy Wonder backward, all the way into Starfire's arms, with such force that it knocked the two of them into a nearby brick wall. Herald stood up next, pointing his horn at the tank and blowing a note that formed a swirling portal... but Immortus fired anyway, his shell piercing the portal and hitting the ground right next to Herald, knocking him back even further than it did Robin.

The general fired his tank several more times, battering the weary heroes with artillery fire and knocking them around the street like ragdolls. Any time one of them tried to stand, Immortus would fire another shell... and the barrage soon left many of them unconscious, and the rest completely unable to resist.

_"Damn... that is one powerful tank..." _thought Red X, languishing on the sidewalk, with the unconscious bodies of Lightning, Argent, and Kid Flash on the ground around him. _"He put all of us out of commission in twenty seconds...!"_

On the other side of the street, Terra lay flat on her back, staring up at an awning just above her head. Her entire body was in terrible pain, so much so that she was completely unable to move... or to use her powers in an attempt to stop Immortus' tank. She looked briefly across the street at X, and could see his body twitching... which filled her with intense concern, as she knew that he was probably in just as much pain as she was.

_"Sanza... hold on... I'm going to try and save you...!"_

Gathering all the strength she could, Terra pushed her energy into the ground beneath her body, lifting up slightly the chunk of concrete around her. Still lying flat on her back, she managed to get about two feet off of the ground... only to have a shell explode just a few feet away, shattering the platform she'd made and knocking her across the sidewalk, the force of the first impact against the concrete instantly knocking her out.

"TERRA!!" screamed Red X, pounding the sidewalk several times in both physical and emotional agony. _"Dammit... that could have killed her!"_

Looking around at all of the wounded heroes, General Immortus began to cackle loudly, his laughs echoing up and down the street where the defeated Titans lay.

"It was all too easy, but of course, when you forget the first rule of warfare, you're bound to lose," said the general, aiming his artillery gun at Speedy, who had climbed to one knee. "When you're smarter than your opponent, superior firepower always wins."

Speedy stared in horror down the barrel of Immortus' gun... realizing that the general was aiming for a direct hit. He was about to become the first casualty.

_"Can't believe... it's gonna end like this..."_

With a smile on his face, the general prepared to fire an artillery shell right at Speedy's head, not noticing the shadow tracing along the nearby rooftops.

"Your friends will be joining you soon," said Immortus coldly, just before a figure in a kimono leapt down upon him from above, much to Speedy's shock. "What the... get off me, you... AAAAAAAAAH!!!"

The sounds of screaming and scuffling could be heard for a few seconds inside the tank... then, in an undignified manner, the scratched-up body of Immortus was flung from the top of his own tank, landing painfully on the nearby concrete in front of Speedy. As the archer looked up, he could see Cheshire standing above the lid of the tank, her feet on either side, staring down at him with her hands on her hips. The other conscious heroes nearby were just as shocked as Speedy was... and they would be getting no explanation from Cheshire, who did a backflip off of the tank and was gone as soon as she'd appeared, leaving the beaten general at the heroes' mercy.

Over the next few seconds or so, the bruised heroes picked themselves up from the ground, while General Immortus, undaunted by being thrown from his tank, began crawling back toward it, only to have Speedy's foot press firmly against his back, pinning him to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere," said Speedy, a serious look on his face.

As soon as Red X could stand, he ran over to Terra, ignoring his own pain, desperate to check on the status of his beloved. He saw her a short distance away from the other heroes, lying unconscious on her face on the sidewalk. He knelt down beside her and turned her over, looking down at her face and wondering if she'd ever open her eyes again.

"Terra... please... please get up..."

She was breathing, albeit very slowly... and without hesitation, X picked her up in his arms, walking as fast as he could toward the group.

"Come on... I'll take you over to Raven, she can heal-"

"...Sanza?" Terra said weakly, opening her eyes and smiling up at Red X, who stopped in his tracks and breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I'm fine... just sore is all... but I don't think I need to be healed right now..."

"Oh, thank god..." X gasped, still holding Terra in his arms, though his sore legs were clearly trembling beneath him, and he was straining to support her weight. Touched by X's concern, Terra reached up and lifted his mask slightly, pulling it just above his lips before leaning up and giving him a quick kiss. As soon as she was done, she pulled X's mask back down.

"You can put me down now," she whispered, a smile still on her face. X eagerly complied, setting her down on her feet and immediately rubbing his sore back. As he did, Beast Boy ran over to the couple, the look on his face and the tone of his voice both indicating that the two of them should probably move quickly.

"We're going to go on to the Brotherhood's headquarters now..." said Beast Boy, pointing down the street toward the barely-visible silhouette of the large, X-shaped building's front facade. "Are you guys okay?"

X and Terra both nodded, with Terra walking over and placing her hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.

"Beast Boy, I'm... really sorry about this week, I just... I just got stressed out, I wanted to get away from everything, and..."

Beast Boy shook his head, smiling and gently taking Terra's hand. He lowered it from his shoulder, then leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Terra, giving her another hug.

"I understand, Terra... I'm just glad you're back with the team now... you _are _back with the team, right?"

"Yes, Beast Boy," Terra replied softly, her hand gently caressing Beast Boy's back as Red X looked on. "I'm back... I'm back for good..."

_"Which means that I'm still out of the stealing game..." _thought Red X, letting out a sigh beneath his mask. _"Unless I get a lot better so that I can do it without the Titans coming to stop me..."_

The thief smiled.

_"I always _did _love a challenge."_

O-O-O

The Brain watched as every single villain that the Brotherhood of Evil had gathered to destroy the Titans was defeated... including two of his own underlings, General Immortus and Monsieur Mallah. He watched as all of the defeated villains were hauled off to prison... and Jump City began to return to its normal, peaceful state.

And he watched all of this alongside Slade, who was supposedly the most fearsome and dangerous villain of all.

"Our plans have failed," said the Brain, his calm tone disguising the serious disappointment he was starting to feel. "As I speak, the Titans and their allies are approaching..."

Slade looked up at the screens monitoring the outside of the building... the Titans, led by Robin, were walking right up to the front door with absolutely no resistance.

"You told me that you would take care of them, Slade..."

"And I still can," said Slade, though in reality, he had no intention of dealing with the Titans or their allies. Instead, he was walking over to a table and lowering a syringe into a small cup of chemicals, filling up the syringe with a strange, clear substance and walking back over to the Brain's pedestal.

"You told me you still had some of your Sladebots here... will they be able to slow the Titans' advance?"

"Don't worry about it," said Slade, holding the syringe in the same hand that he was also using to activate a console on his wrist. "It will all be taken care of shortly."

The Brain was now rather curious as to what exactly Slade was doing... and he got even more suspicious when a panel on his pedestal slid open, revealing a metallic plate with a tiny, pinprick-sized hole in the middle.

"...what are you doing?" the Brain queried, his voice taking on a bit of a perturbed quality. "Why have you hacked into my controls? This has nothing to do with the threat we are facing..."

Slade did not respond to the Brain's question... instead, he lowered the syringe toward the hole in the Brain's pedestal and inserted the needle, injecting the entire contests of the syringe into the hole. Connected to the hole was a small tube, a tube that fed in directly to the liquid that the Brain was immersed in... and within seconds, the Brain began to feel the strange chemical's effects. He started to tingle, and then, began feeling a sharp, stabbing pain in every nerve.

"What... what is this...?!"

"For a giant brain, you're incredibly stupid," said Slade, tossing away the syringe and calmly watching as the chemical continued to take effect, its acidic qualities reacting with the Brain's basic chemistry and eating away at its every cell... the life-sustaining liquid that the Brain had been immersed in was now a deadly stew, and soon, loud screaming could be heard from the computerized speaker hooked up to the pedestal as the Brain's flesh began melting away. "I never intended to help you, or the Brotherhood of Evil... I came for your information, and now that I have it, there's no reason to keep you alive."

"YOU... TRAITOR!!!" The normally emotionless Brain was now filled with rage, rage that was mixed with fear as terrible pain engulfed its entire being... and as more and more of it melted away, causing the pedestal to spark with electricity. "Damn you... DAMN YOU!!!"

Slade continued to watch as the Brain dissolved, not even blinking as the Brain's agonized screams filled the room for nearly a minute... and then, there was silence. The Brain was no more... and the jar of liquid that it had once been immersed in was now filled with its remains, the liquid a disgusting gray sludge that overflowed from the Brain's jar and spilled out onto the floor. Then, without a word, Slade exited the room, leaving the dissolved remnants of the Brain for the Titans and their allies to find.

O-O-O

Completely unaware of the Brain's terrible fate, the heroes made their way through the empty corridors of the Brotherhood's headquarters... but Speedy lagged slightly behind, still wondering exactly why Cheshire had elected to help them in their fight... especially at the moment that he was about to be killed.

_"She didn't have to help us... she would've won if she didn't... so why _did _she? ...one day, I swear I'm gonna find out..."_

A hand went over Speedy's mouth, pulling him around a corner and pressing him up against the wall. He let out a muffled scream before realizing that he was staring into the masked face of the very person he wanted to see.

_"...Cheshire?"_

Her hand still over Speedy's mouth, the masked girl lifted her other hand up to her mask and removed it from her face... revealing a beautiful visage bearing narrow, piercing eyes, a small but well-rounded nose, and a pair of soft, gorgeous lips.

"I want to thank you..." Cheshire's hand lowered from Speedy's mouth, but he remained silent, listening to the rest of her speech in shock. "I know you are wondering why I decided to help you... it touched me to see how fiercely you rallied to each other's aid. First, Jinx coming to save you, even though before she was working with me and the other villains... and then Kid Flash coming to save her. None of the villains would have done that for me... nobody would have."

Cheshire backed off slightly, looking away from Speedy for a moment... the look on her face was one of great sadness, and without hearing even a second of her past, Speedy could tell that this girl had been through quite a lot.

"...and that's why you saved us?"

"That is exactly why," said Cheshire, looking directly into Speedy's eyes. "I cannot stay long, but... I just wanted to tell you how I felt, and to thank you for showing me a different path... I must leave for now, I am going to rethink my life, but... I know we'll see each other again."

Cheshire turned to leave, but Speedy softly grabbed her arm, prompting her to look back toward him.

"Should I... call you Cheshire?"

"Call me Jade," said the girl, smiling as she started to pull away.

"...and you can call me Roy," Speedy replied, a sly smile on his face. With a knowing nod, Cheshire leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then turned and dashed off down the hall, placing her mask back on her face before disappearing around a corner. _"Damn... I _really _hope I see her again."_

O-O-O

"...I can't believe this."

Beast Boy approached the Brain's pedestal in shock, placing his finger inside and taking up a sample of the gray goo inside the jar on top... after rubbing it between his fingers for a moment, Cyborg grabbed Beast Boy's hand.

"Hey!" shouted the changeling, as his finger was forcibly pressed against a panel on Cyborg's wrist. "What are you..."

"Nanomachines," said Cyborg, releasing Beast Boy's hand as soon as the scan was complete. "Much more advanced than the ones Slade used on us... they dissolved the Brain in less than a minute, then went completely inert..."

The nanomachines Cyborg was referring to, of course, were probes that Slade injected into the Titans' bodies, attaching themselves to the cells in the Titans' bloodstreams so that if Robin disobeyed his commands, the probes could be activated and used to kill the team from within. These new nanomachines quickly ensured the Brain's quick and painful death.

"But... why would Slade kill the Brain?" Bumblebee walked over to Cyborg and read the scan results for herself, then turned to Robin, who was already deep in thought.

"Because he's a treacherous, murderous bastard... he doesn't need a reason to kill anybody, he just _does _it... good or evil, friend or foe... the Brain probably never even saw it coming."

Starfire frowned with worry. Seeing her dear friend Robin in 'Slade mode' was rather difficult for her... and with Slade still at large, he was going to be in that mode of thinking for quite some time.

But while Robin was concerned with Slade, in Beast Boy's mind, there was a new number-one priority... he had to find the Doom Patrol, wherever they were. If Slade killed the Brain, it was extremely likely that he'd do the same to the Doom Patrol... who had to be somewhere nearby. When he walked out of the room without saying a word, the others knew _exactly _what he was looking for... but were also too shell-shocked over the Brain's death to follow him, at least for a little while.

It was Raven who was the first to follow, a few seconds later... and then Terra, and Red X soon afterwards. Most of the other remaining heroes stayed in the room that had once been home to the Brain... now just the final resting place of one of the most dangerous criminals the world had ever seen...

...his life brought to an end by _the _most dangerous criminal.

O-O-O

After a few minutes of searching, Beast Boy found the Doom Patrol. Unguarded, they were inside a small, mostly-darkened room, still suspended in the life-support tanks that they'd been placed in more than a week ago.

Next to the tanks, a computer console monitored their vitals... upon seeing that all four of his former comrades were still alive, Beast Boy breathed a loud sigh of relief, before walking over to the console and looking for a way to free his friends.

"Oh man..." muttered Beast Boy to himself, looking down at the console and scratching his head in frustration. "There are so many buttons... which one lets out whoever's in these things?"

Beast Boy was so deep in thought that he didn't notice Raven coming up behind him... until she reached over his shoulder and pressed a button marked 'Release' in bright red letters just above. The tanks immediately began to drain, and the oxygen masks withdrew from the faces of Mento and Elasti-Girl. After all the tanks had drained, they opened up, and the four Doom Patrol members slowly began to stir, standing on their feet on the bottom of the tanks.

"...well, that was easy enough," said Beast Boy, turning toward Raven with an embarrassed smile.

"Then why didn't you do it sooner?" replied the half-demoness, watching along with Beast Boy as the weary, but ultimately unharmed Doom Patrol emerged from the tanks, looking around for a few bewildered moments and trying to gauge where they were at.

"The last thing I remember..." said Mento, stepping out of the tank toward the center of the room, "is that masked man's fist hitting me in the face, and then..."

"Garfield!" shouted Elasti-Girl happily, pointing at Beast Boy and running over to greet him. "You look hurt... are you all right?"

As Elasti-Girl swept Beast Boy up in his arms, he remembered the bruises and injuries he'd sustained in the big battle... and then began feeling them as Elasti-Girl's arms wrapped around his body. He groaned a bit, but there was a smile on his face... finally, his friends in the Doom Patrol were safe.

"I'm fine... I'm just glad to see you, Rita..."

"...you!" shouted Mento, pointing at Red X, who was standing in the entrance of the room next to Terra. "You're the thief who was stealing from that building we came to when we first got to the city... are you the one who put us here?"

"...and what if I am?" said Red X defiantly. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Annoyed by X's tone, Mento stepped forward and began to confront the thief... only to be stopped by Robotman, who placed a calming hand on Mento's shoulder.

"I don't think he's the guy that put us here, Steve... I think he's one of the people who saved us."

"...your name's Steve?" X remarked, chuckling to himself. "I know a guy named Steve... about a foot shorter than you, with a lot less muscles... but I bet he could kick your butt in a fight. In fact-"

"Sanza!" Terra whispered, lightly nudging Red X in the side with her elbow. "Don't egg him on... he's been trapped here for a long time, leave him alone... maybe we should go anyway, Beast Boy probably has some catching up to do with these guys..."

Beast Boy was overjoyed to finally know that the Doom Patrol was safe and sound... and though Mento had belittled him in the days before the team's capture, it was he that Beast Boy wanted to speak to most of all... though he didn't expect to hear any congratulations anytime soon.

"So anyway... the Brotherhood's defeated... the Brain is dead, and... we were able to stop them from taking over the city. It's kind of a long story, but... if you want, I can tell you guys back at the Tower..."

"It's quite all right, Garfield..." said Elasti-Girl, giving Beast Boy another hug. "Now that the Brotherhood of Evil has been beaten, we should probably be going..."

"You... you and your friends really stopped the Brotherhood of Evil?" said Mento, a look of disbelief on his face. He briefly scanned through Beast Boy's memories... and was amazed by some of the things he saw. "...I... I..."

"You're speechless?" said Negative Man, laughing to himself. "Yeah, I know that feeling."

Mento looked down at Beast Boy for several seconds, thinking of all the past battles that his own team had had with the Brotherhood of Evil... all the failures, near-misses... and now, it was finally over. The Brotherhood was destroyed, its leader permanently... and seemingly, it had all been because of Beast Boy and his group of teen superheroes, the Teen Titans.

"Good work, son," said Mento, reaching out to shake Beast Boy's hand. "You've done this old hero proud."

"Thank you, sir..." replied Beast Boy, accepting Mento's handshake with a proud smile on his face. "I couldn't have done it without everything that you and Rita taught me... and Negative Man and Robot Man too."

"...warm fuzzies all around," said Raven in her familiar tone, joining Red X and Terra in the doorway. "I think it's time to head home and have a nice, big glass of herbal tea."

After handshakes from Negative Man and Robot Man, and another hug from Elasti-Girl, Beast Boy knew that it was finally time to head back home with his friends... defending Jump City had been a long, difficult ordeal, but at last, it was finally over.

_"I'm glad I finally made you proud of me, Mento... but what I'm really glad about is that all of you are safe... and now that the Brotherhood of Evil is gone, it looks like you guys can finally rest easy."_

O-O-O

Madame Rouge took several side streets out of the city, making sure to avoid the people who were returning to their homes. She knew that the Brotherhood had lost... that Mallah and Immortus had been taken to jail. Wherever the Brain was, she didn't want to see him again... didn't want to see anyone again for quite some time.

_"Fucking Teen Titans... Red X... Terra... all of you... I hate you all."_

She emerged from an alley onto the sidewalk of a residential street... and was soon accosted by the one person she definitely didn't want to see.

"Rouge... all hell's broken loose, the Brain is dead, and-"

"Shut up... go away... don't want to hear any of it, Derek," said Rouge, increasing her pace to get as far away from Voscoti as possible.

"I was just thinking... now that all of this is over, maybe... maybe you and I can rekindle what we had... I know I abandoned you, but I'm sorry for that, I really am! I just want to be with you, Laura... please, just give me another chance..."

Rouge stopped and turned around, walking over to Voscoti and giving him a brief smile.

"You want another chance...? Another chance with me?"

Her hand moved forward, gripping tightly around Voscoti's neck and lifting him above the ground, her fingers clenching his throat and rendering him unable to speak.

"My name is Madame Rouge now... and don't you _ever _forget it. You had your chance, your one and only chance, and you left me for dead... at least the Brain never did that. He saw my potential... and he gave me this gift... he gave me a new life, a new life that you will _never _be a part of."

She dropped Voscoti roughly to the ground, looking down at him, her eyes piercing into his.

"And if I ever, EVER see you again... I will kill you without hesitation. I don't care where we are or who is watching... if I ever hear another word from you or see your face, I swear to God that you will die. Do you understand me?"

Voscoti said nothing... just began to tremble on the ground. Rouge grabbed him by the throat again, lifting him up and looking him right in the eyes.

"I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Voscoti gave a single, meek nod, and Rouge threw him to the ground again... before turning and walking casually down the sidewalk, putting Derek Voscoti out of her life forever.

O-O-O

Back in the main room of Titans Tower, the members of Titans East and Titans West, along with their young allies had gathered to celebrate the defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil, and the salvation of the city.

After all of the partying, all of the fun and the laughs and the food, Robin handed out communicators to all of the new young heroes... including Jinx, who promised to Robin that she'd never associate with the H.I.V.E. again.

"Those guys are losers," said Jinx as she accepted her communicator. _"Except for maybe See-More... I need to go visit him in jail tomorrow."_

After all of the communicators were handed out, the new young heroes and the members of Titans East said their goodbyes. Some of them were rather funny...

"Come on now, you blokes can't follow me back to New Zealand..." said Argent, prying Mas y Menos off of her legs as they shouted 'don't go!' to her repeatedly in Spanish. "At least here in America, there are a lot of people who know Spanish..."

"_Si_," said Red X, sitting next to Terra on the couch and waving over at Mas y Menos. "If you guys let Argent's legs go, I'll translate your letters to her into English for you."

"We already know English," said Mas indignantly, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yeah," added Menos. "It's just more convenient to talk in Spanish..."

"...not more convenient for _us_," said Aqualad, ushering Mas y Menos out the front door. He then turned to Bumblebee, who had been conversing with Cyborg for quite some time. "Hey... are we gonna go, or what? I'm starting to get really tired..."

"Wait a sec," said Bumblebee, before turning back to Cyborg and giving him a warm smile. "I probably should get going..."

"Yeah..." Cyborg replied, though he did look rather sad to see Bumblebee go. "Having you around this week has been really... well, uh..."

As Cyborg struggled to find the words, his face turned redder and redder... and Bumblebee knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"Awesome?" said Bumblebee, finishing Cyborg's sentence for him. "Having you around has been really great too... but we can always visit each other, right?"

"Oh... sure!"

"Great," said Bumblebee, leaning in and giving Cyborg a quick peck on the lips before following her team out the door. Just before she left, she turned to Cyborg and smiled. "You gotta promise me you'll come visit, though... promise me now."

"I promise...!"

Terra giggled as she watched Cyborg and Bumblebee's rather romantic goodbye... then leaned into Red X, briefly nuzzling her face against his shoulder.

"By the way," said Terra, craning her head back up and reclining her back into the couch, "What did your mom ever do with that Billy Numerous guy she caught?"

"Oh... I just got off the phone with her fifteen minutes ago," Red X replied. "The police came to pick him up, but Maddy and her friend Kole didn't wanna let him go... seems they were having way too much fun tickling him. I really pity the guy... spending more than an hour helpless with my sister? No villain deserves that..."

"I know what you mean," said Terra through a flurry of giggles. "Maddy's fingers should be classified as lethal weapons... she tickled me so hard I thought I was gonna die... that reminds me, I should probably stop by your apartment tomorrow and see how your family's doing... is that all right?"

Before X could respond, Robin walked over with a Titan communicator in his hands.

"Terra... X told me that Rouge destroyed the communicator you gave to him after she knocked him out... that was _your _communicator, so... I'm giving you this one. You are rejoining the team, right?"

"...well... if you'll have me," said Terra, reaching out to accept the communicator. "I mean, I know I sort of quit on bad terms..."

Terra took the communicator from Robin's hand, looking at it for several seconds... flipping it around with her fingers a couple of times... she still held guilty feelings, but now, after saving Sanza's life, she no longer felt guilty about using her powers to help people. Yes, she could still be a threat... but now that was a risk she was willing to take.

Terra was ready to be a Teen Titan again.

"Glad to have you back, Terra," said Robin, who then turned his gaze to Red X. "As for you..."

"Not interested," said X, believing that Robin was once again going to offer him a spot on the team. "I already told you-"

"It's not that," said Robin, handing Red X a slip of paper. "Before we left the Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters, Jericho approached me... he told me that he wasn't coming back to the Tower with us, that he was leaving the city... but he also had something very important to tell us."

The slip of paper was a note... and Red X opened it up and began to read.

O-O-O

_Dear friends..._

_I am writing this note for two purposes... one of these purposes is a confession. The other, a warning._

_I will start with the confession. You all know me as Jericho, but my real name is Joseph Wilson... I am the son of the criminal you all know as Slade. Several years ago, my father was not the 'evil' mastermind, the threat to society that you now see him to be... he was a professional assassin, and on a certain mission, a criminal by the name of Jackal escaped from my father's grasp. He abducted me, and threatened my father. When my father refused to back down, Jackal began to cut my throat... and though Slade was able to stop him before he could kill me, my larynx was injured in the attack, and I was rendered permanently mute. My mother blamed Slade for my injury, and she attacked him... and then left him, taking me and my sister with her._

_Thus, the warning... Jackal was hired by a group of men, most of whom were killed by my father either before or after the attack on me, but... one of these men remains alive, and is currently working and residing somewhere in this country. I am certain that my father will seek revenge on this man in the very near future, and I beg of you to stop him... as it is likely that my father's revenge will extend far beyond this single man. I regret that I cannot help you to stop my father, but I love him far too much to assist in your mission... and I have faith that you will be able to bring him to justice before he is allowed to harm anyone else. Please, find this man and stop my father... before it is too late._

_Your friend,_

_Joseph "Jericho" Wilson_

O-O-O

"...Sanza... we want you to help us stop Slade. I know how much you hate him, and also, I know how much you want to protect Terra from him."

Red X looked down at the letter again, then looked up at Robin. He started to speak, then began to feel a painful sensation in his entire body... the wounds and bruises he'd sustained from his battle with Rouge were acting up, and he let out an audible groan.

_"I'd love to help, but... if I can't beat Madame Rouge... if I can't even put a scratch on her, then..."_

For the first time since he'd failed to prevent his friend Cleo's rape, Red X was having a crisis of confidence. Madame Rouge had completely and utterly humiliated him... and he knew that her power and skill was dwarfed by the monster known as Slade. If he couldn't even hurt Madame Rouge, then what good was he fighting Slade? Sure, he had his gadgets, and they were useful against most villains, and even the Titans... but with little more than mastery of a single martial art, and some rudimentary boxing skills, he didn't even match up to Robin, let alone a master fighter like Slade.

"...I'd love to help, but I don't know how good I'd be," said Red X, before standing up and walking toward the nearest hallway.

"What do you mean by that?" replied Robin, who began to follow X, only to have Terra get up and follow him first.

"I mean," said X, turning around and looking past Terra to talk to Robin, "That if I can't even hurt Madame Rouge, I don't have a chance in hell of hurting Slade. That's what I mean."

And before Robin could say anything else, X had left the room...

"Sanza, wait...!" Terra called out, followed X into a hallway and into the first door he entered. "Sanza... what are you talking about, you're just as good at fighting Slade as I am!"

X walked over to the window, turning to face Terra and leaning his back against it, removing his mask and tossing it to the floor.

"Look at my face, Terra, look at these bruises... Madame Rouge kicked the crap out of me, and it's a miracle I was able to knock out that monkey!"

"You mean Mallah?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, him," sighed Sanza, looking up at the ceiling and pressing his hands against the window sill. "Terra... you and I both know that if Slade ever attacked you... if he tried to hurt you, I'd die to protect you... but that's all that I'd do. _Die. _I wouldn't be able to stop him... and it'd be all my fault if something happened to you."

Terra's eyes went wide... the Sanza she knew was confident, supremely so, proud and boastful of his abilities. Sure, he wasn't boastful to the point of being arrogant, which was one of the reasons she was so charmed by him, he was only boastful enough to be sure of himself, about as sure as Beast Boy was.

But then she remembered exactly what Rouge had put him through... the fear he must have gone through, the pain of knowing that his death could come at any moment... unable to move, unable to see, unable to call out for help... he'd faced the very same fear that Terra herself had faced while being held captive by Sedaris... and she knew what fear like that could do.

"Sanza... you can't blame yourself for that..." said Terra, reaching over and placing a gentle hand on Sanza's face. He didn't brush it away, but he didn't smile, either. "And you can't blame yourself for getting beaten by Rouge, either..."

"Why not? Terra, I'm a horrible fighter... without the suit, I'm nothing... I'm a fourth-degree blackbelt in karate, after busting my ass from first grade all the way through ninth grade to learn it... I can box a little, but that's it. Robin knows everything! He knows karate, he knows kung fu, he knows judo, ju jitsu, tae kwon do, muay thai, kaepora, Krav Maga... if I didn't have those gadgets he could knock me out in five seconds!"

The door to the room slid open, and Robin came in.

_"How ironic," _thought Sanza, rolling his eyes.

"I overheard some of what you said... and you're right, Sanza, compared to me, you're nothing."

"Robin, you're just gonna make things worse!" said Terra, rather angrily. "I'm trying to give him some confidence, and..."

"Sanza... I'm not quite sure if I should be recommending this, considering how little you know about martial arts... but there's a teacher who worked with me-"

"...Batman?" said Sanza, prompting Robin to shake his head.

"The True Master..." said Robin. "The best martial artist in the world... I trained with the True Master several months back, and even I learned quite a lot... someone like you could probably learn much, much more."

Fighting lessons from the best martial artist in the world? Sanza was incredibly skeptical... after all, Robin was a master martial artist when he'd gone to see the True Master. Someone like Sanza would likely be chewed up and spit out... but then again, it was probably worth a try... considering what the stakes were.

_"I'd do _anything _to protect Terra from Slade... and if this True Master can make me strong enough to do that..."_

"I spent two weeks with the True Master," said Robin, "and you'd likely do the same... if you were able to reach the True Master, that is."

"Wait a minute, Sanza, don't you go to school?" asked Terra, who was also a bit wary of the prospect of Sanza training with the True Master... but for other, slightly more selfish reasons. _"I just fell in love with him, now he's going to leave for two weeks? What am I gonna do until then, dress up in his costume and pretend to be him? ...on second thought, that might be kinda fun..."_

"My school was pretty badly damaged," said Sanza. "When I talked to my mom on the phone, she said it would take two weeks to finish the repairs. Which kinda sucks, since that means we'll have to make the two weeks up during the summer... but I guess this does come at a pretty convenient time."

"...so, you're actually going to train with the True Master?" asked Terra, looking rather surprised. "Aren't you scared that... I dunno, you might get killed?"

"Like I said, it's an extremely tough journey to reach the top of the mountain," said Robin. "You'd have to undergo a series of trials... and you wouldn't be allowed to use your Red X suit. I had a rough time getting up there... someone like you-"

"I wanna do it," said Sanza, an extremely determined look on his face. "I want to train with the True Master."

"I can fly you to China in the T-Jet and drop you off at the True Master's village whenever you're ready," said Robin.

"...wait a minute... Sanza's going to be in CHINA?!" stammered Terra, her eyes going even wider. _"Oh geez... this is really gonna suck..."_

Sanza could see the distressed look on Terra's face, and his feelings matched her own... two weeks away from his friends, his family... and away from Terra. He would miss her terribly... but he'd miss her even worse if Slade killed her. If that happened, she wouldn't be gone for two weeks... she'd be gone _forever_.

"Robin... can we leave first thing on Monday?" Sanza asked, knowing that Monday was the day after next. "I'd... like to spend all of tomorrow with Terra."

"I understand," said Robin, nodding his head. "Sanza, I have to warn you... just _reaching _the True Master is going to be tough, but... the True Master is the best martial artist in the world, and..."

Robin stopped himself before revealing the True Master's gender... he wanted it to be just as much a surprise to Sanza as it was to him, as not knowing her identity was an important part of the trials.

"And _he _is going to push you to the very limit," said Robin. "Considering your limit, he'll probably push you way, way past it."

Sanza gave an understanding nod, hoping that he wasn't making a big mistake by agreeing to undertake the True Master's training... he looked over at Terra, who gripped his hands tightly in hers, giving him a confident smile.

"I support you, Sanza... I know you're going to do just fine."

He could tell that Terra _didn't _know whether or not he'd do fine... she was just as unsure as he was.

But Sanza did know one thing. He would do anything to safeguard the life of the girl he loved... no matter what the cost.

O-O-O

So as one phase of the story ends, another begins! Next chapter is Sanza and Terra's last day together before Sanza leaves to undergo the most difficult challenge of his life! Will he succeed beyond his wildest dreams, or will he be crushed beneath the heel of the True Master's difficult training? You, reader, will soon find out!


	15. One Leisurely Day

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

All morning in church, Sanza found it impossible to sit still, or to concentrate on what the priest was saying... at that time tomorrow, he would be on a plane, headed for China and what was sure to be the most grueling training of his life. He looked to his left and could see his mother, her eyes locked on the front of the sanctuary... but she was also having trouble paying attention, and her mind kept drifting back to her son... who was going to be gone for the next two weeks.

"_Sanza, I can't believe I'm actually agreeing to let you go and do this... but if it will help to keep you safe, then..." _She bowed her head for a moment, closing her eyes and letting out a long sigh._ "I'm just going to miss you so much..."_

O-O-O

_Sanza had brought his request up that morning at breakfast... it had come while he, his mother, and his sister were discussing yesterday's events. He'd already worried his mother enough by telling him everything he'd been through... his battles with Madame Rouge and Monsieur Mallah, and the news that Slade was still at large... and for Maria to hear that her son would be training with some strange martial arts master for two weeks was almost too much to bear._

"_You're kidding, right?" Maria said, an intensely disturbed look on her face. "Sanza, I've been worried about you all week, spending your time fighting every criminal in the city... you don't think I'm actually going to let you go halfway across the world for two weeks, do you?"_

"_Mom, I know you're worried about me, but... it's the only way I can be safe from Slade! And it's the only way I can protect you guys from him too..."_

_Maddy was normally supportive of her big brother, but even she wasn't sure about him leaving to train for two weeks... what if something happened? What if the plane crashed? What if he was killed during a training exercise?_

"_Sanza, I... I don't know if you should do this either..." said Maddy quietly, looking into Sanza's eyes with an expression of worry. "Training with the Titans is one thing, if you mess up you'll still be safe, but-"_

"_Robin said that I'd be perfectly fine training with the True Master," replied Sanza, trying to give both his mother and his sister some degree of reassurance. "I mean, he's supposed to be tough, but... it's not like he's going to kill me if I make a mistake or anything."_

_Of course, Sanza wasn't entirely sure of that himself... in all the movies he'd seen involving a karate master training a student, the student was subject to a vicious beating at the slightest screw-up... and Sanza knew he'd be making a lot of those. He looked around the table and could still see that his mother and sister were worried about him... there was nothing that he could say to rid them of that._

"_...I was looking forward to you being out of school for two weeks," said Maria, her worry replaced with slight sadness. "I was already planning some of the things we could do together... I mean, I know you probably wanted to spend some time with your friends, but..."_

_Maria bowed her head, and Sanza could already see that his mother was going to miss him. He'd miss her too, just like he'd miss Maddy... and just like he'd miss Terra._

_But this was something he HAD to do... he had to get stronger to protect the people he cared about, and to be able to defeat Slade once and for all. He wasn't going to let himself lose another fight as badly as the one he lost against Madame Rouge._

"_I won't be helpless..." thought Sanza, a determined look forming on his face. "I won't be weak... I won't..."_

_And just as Sanza began to tremble, he could feel his sister's hand gently resting on his, her fingers lightly squeezing his palm. Sanza looked over at Maddy, who was trying to give him a smile... though the worry on her face was still very much there._

"_You do what you have to do, big brother... but please be careful, okay?'_

_Sanza gave his sister a silent nod, before looking over at Maria, who was still deep in thought, still wondering whether or not she should let her son go on such a difficult and potentially dangerous journey._

"_I've already let him do so much... I let him keep the suit, I let him go out and fight evil with the Teen Titans... so what's one more little concession? I just... I just don't want to lose him... from what he told me about yesterday, I almost lost him then... and I'm sure there have been plenty of other times when I've almost lost him, so..."_

_Finally, Maria looked back over at her son, a solemn look on her face... and a tear starting to form in her left eye._

"_You... you promise me you're going to come back?"_

"_Mom, I promise... I won't let anything happen."_

"_All right," said Maria, looking slightly away as soon as she gave her permission, immediately wondering whether or not she'd regret her decision. "You... you go do what you have to do..."_

O-O-O

And it was a decision that Maria was still thinking about as the priest spoke his last words of the service. The other churchgoers, as well as Sanza and Maddy, began to stand up, but Maria remained in her seat, her head bowed, her lips quietly mouthing a final, solemn prayer.

"Mom...?" Sanza tapped his mother on the shoulder, and a few moments later, she stood up, brushing a few flecks of dust off the sides of her red church gown. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, dear, I'm fine... let's go."

The Salazar family exited the church with the rest of the congregation, filing out near the back of the crowd. As they exited the building, Sanza immediately noticed someone standing to the side of the stone steps descending from the entrance of the cathedral... it was Terra, dressed in her black shirt with the yellow 'T' insignia and a pair of yellow shorts... though she was without the brown gloves, leaving them at home and leaving her hands bare. She waved at the Salazars as they exited the church, and hugged Sanza when he walked over to her.

"Terra... how'd you find this place?" asked Sanza, though he was glad that Terra had come to meet him right after Mass.

"Robin told me where it was," Terra replied, releasing Sanza from the hug and taking another look at the facade of the building. "It's really beautiful... most of the churches I've seen aren't this..."

"Ornate?" said Maria, smiling as she finished Terra's sentence. "Sanza, you should probably change out of your church clothes before you and your friend go out anywhere... Terra, if you want, you can come back with us and wait while Sanza changes into something a bit more appropriate..."

Sanza rolled his eyes, looking briefly down at his white dress shirt and blue tie... and as stuffy as his clothes felt, he didn't want anything interrupting his time with Terra... on what would be the last day that he'd see her for two weeks.

"Mom, I can wear this, it doesn't matter-"

"Oh, yes it does matter, Sanza... you're not going to mess up your nice church clothes, I paid a lot of money for them and you're going to take them off before you go on any excursions. Do you understand me?"

Sanza blinked for several moments, not knowing exactly what to say... he did know that he wasn't about to win any arguments with his mother, and before he could say anything else, Maria walked past him in the direction of the parking lot, followed by Maddy.

"_Guess I'd better go change... I guess she's right, these clothes aren't any good for going out on a date, but... I just don't want to lose any time is all..."_

Letting out a sigh, Sanza followed his mother and sister to the parking lot. Terra walked alongside him, giggling as she and Sanza made their way over to Maria's car, entering the back seat as Sanza's mother and sister climbed into the front.

"I thought you said Red X doesn't take orders from anybody," Terra whispered, still giggling.

"Yeah, well... give her a couple minutes and my mom would probably have _Robin _taking orders," Sanza jokingly replied.

O-O-O

As Sanza went up to his room to change, and Maddy watched television in the living room, Terra sat down at the kitchen table and watched as Maria casually placed her purse on the counter and leaned back against it, looking in the geomancer's direction.

"So... Sanza told me about everything you and the rest of the team have been up to this week..." said Maria, her voice starting to fill with emotion.

"Well... the team, mostly... I haven't really been a part of the team, but I'm sure Sanza's told you about that, too."

Maria struggled to find the words that would express the gratitude she had for Terra saving her son's life... she bit her lip and managed to keep herself from crying, but she was still too overwhelmed with emotion to speak... so she finally just walked over and wrapped her arms around Terra's back, hugging her as tightly as she could in a silent expression of thanks.

"You rescued my son... I... I can't thank you enough... I'm so glad you were able to..."

"It's... it's okay, I sort of owed him," said Terra, graciously accepting Maria's hug, while at the same time feeling a bit awkward to be showered with such open emotion. "Really, I mean... he saved me, so..."

After about ten seconds, Maria finally released Terra from the embrace, wiping back a few tears from her eyes that had just started to come out during the hug. She sniffled, then smiled, looking down into Terra's eyes and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You... you've made my son so happy, I can't even express how happy you've made him... he doesn't say it very much, but... a mother can tell."

"Uh... thanks?" Terra said, smiling nervously and breathing a sigh of relief when she could see Sanza standing in the entrance to the kitchen, having changed out of his church clothes into something a bit more casual. She turned to him and smiled, giving him a friendly wave. "So, you ready to go?"

Sanza nodded, walking over to Terra, then looking over at his mother, who was still trying to wipe the tears from her face. He couldn't tell whether she was still sad about him leaving, or relieved that he was safe... he did remember his mother having a rather emotional reaction when he'd told her about Terra saving his life.

"_I hope she didn't embarrass Terra too much..." _thought Sanza, who had walked into the kitchen just as Maria was releasing Terra from their hug. "Yeah, I'm ready... don't worry, mom, I'll be back tonight, okay?"

Maria nodded, sniffling and wiping the last of the tears from her eyes.

"You two be careful, all right? And don't get too... well, you know what I mean. Enjoy yourselves, but..."

"...not too much?" said Sanza, a smirk on his face. "We know, we know... come on, Terra."

Terra smiled and giggled, nodding as she took Sanza's hand and walked with him out the door.

"_Your mom really loves you..." _thought Terra, whose brief encounter with Maria reminded her of her own mother... who she barely remembered. _"Sanza, you're the first person in a long time to love me as much as I know your mother loves you... I promise, I'll do everything to make this last day something really special... so you'll remember exactly what you're going to be training so hard to protect."_

O-O-O

The afternoon started in typical fashion... Terra and Sanza went out together for lunch, and then went to a movie... Sanza had originally suggested dinner and a movie, but Terra told him she had other ideas for after dinner... it had been a long time since she'd gone out on a date like this with anyone... the last date she'd had like this, the fateful one with Beast Boy, had been a night to remember... and also a night she desperately wanted to forget.

So, figured Terra, the best way to forget that night would be to do it all over again... but this time, with Sanza. She'd already planned it all out, she would take him to the diner, and then to the amusement park just outside of town... in other words, she would try and rid her mind of all its terrible memories by creating entirely new ones.

But first, she and Sanza had a lot of time to kill... after all, it was only three o'clock in the afternoon.

"That guy looks pissed off," whispered Sanza, pointing at the screen displaying the action movie that he and Terra were watching. They'd forgone the typical 'date movie' in order to watch something a bit more exciting... and really, both of them hated mushy romance movies anyway.

"Oh, I know... oh man, he's taking out a gun...!!" Terra whispered back, pumping her fists as the character on the screen pumped nearly a dozen bad guys with lead. "Whoohoo, take that, you-"

"SHHHHH!" came the reply from the patrons in the rows immediately in front of and behind Terra and Sanza. The blonde quickly quieted herself down, slinking into her seat and shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"Y'know," whispered Sanza, "if we moved to the back, I think we'd be able to be a bit louder without getting yelled at..."

Terra looked over at Sanza, who had a sly smile on his face... and could immediately tell the _real _reason why he wanted to move to the back of the theater. Giggling, Terra took out another handful of popcorn and threw it at Sanza's head, showering both him and the man seated to his left, who angrily brushed the popcorn off of his body and elbowed Sanza in the side.

"Oh... I'm really sorry...!" whispered Terra, gasping as she realized that the man must've blamed Sanza for throwing the popcorn. "Sanza, are you okay...?"

Sanza just smiled and nodded, leaning back in his seat and enjoying the rest of the movie. It wasn't a particularly good movie, there were a few exciting parts, but mostly, Sanza just wanted to spend time with Terra... which was the purpose of the entire day. He didn't care how much popcorn he got thrown at him, or how many times he got elbowed... as long as he was with Terra, he was having a good time.

"But I'm going to get you back for this," he whispered playfully, jabbing her in the shoulder with his finger.

"Suuuuure you are, Sanza..." said Terra, rolling her eyes and throwing another handful of popcorn at him, making sure that this time, all of it hit Sanza, and none of it hit the people sitting around him. She was having just as much fun as he was, though her fun was tainted with a bit of sadness, as she knew this would be the last day she'd be spending with Sanza for quite some time... so she knew she had to make the most of it.

O-O-O

After the movie, Sanza and Terra took a short walk from the theater to the nearby park, walking together and talking about what they'd both been up to... besides their battles with evil, of course.

"So I guess you're going to have to drop out of that school, huh?" Sanza asked, holding Terra's hand as the two of them walked alongside a small, duck-filled pond near the center of the park. Terra nodded, but there was a smile on her face... as much as she'd miss all the friends she made that week at the Murakami School, she was missing the Titans even more... and now that she could finally trust herself, she was glad to be back on the team.

"Yeah, I am... it's not like I was paying anything to go, so at least that won't be a problem... I'll meet up with some of my friends from there tomorrow and tell them where to find me."

"You made friends?"

"Well... a couple," said Terra, brushing some of the hair back from her face. "I... sort of made up some of my past though, I mean, I was trying to start a new life, so I couldn't exactly tell them about my powers..."

The two of them continued to walk, with Terra telling Sanza a bit more about the friends she'd made at Murakami... from what Sanza could tell, Terra made friends rather easily as a 'normal' girl. She was funny, she was kind, her personality was almost infectious... and it made Sanza realize just how much of a burden her powers had been on her life. After all, if it took her only a week to make two really good friends, she'd likely be able to accumulate many over a long period of time... and from what he'd heard from the Titans, Terra had been able to win them over relatively quickly as well, with only Raven being slow to come around.

"Terra... I don't suppose you could tell me much about your past, could you?" asked Sanza. Terra stopped walking, pausing a bit to inquire about exactly what Sanza meant. "You know, before you came to the Teen Titans?"

"Oh..." said Terra, bowing her head toward the ground, her expression immediately becoming much sadder. "Well..."

Sanza could feel Terra's grip loosening from her hand, and when he looked up into her eyes, he could see the pain etched on her face, the pain that could only come from years of rejection and failure.

"_Okay, I think that was a _big _mistake," _thought Sanza, who looked past Terra to see the pond about six inches behind her back. "You know, on second thought, Terra, let's just... talk about something else, okay?"

"Oh... well, that's fine, I mean, I trust you, so..." Terra looked up from the ground, but Sanza could still see that there was an intense sadness still registering on her face... and knew that her past was probably the last thing that Terra wanted to talk about.

"No, really, let's talk about... what's that in the water?" Sanza's quick change of tone stunned Terra just long enough for him to be able to give her a gentle shove backwards... and that shove was enough to cause the girl to lose her balance and fall right into the pond, her back making a big splash as it hit the water.

Almost immediately, Terra let out a scream and sat up, her mouth wide open as she looked up at Sanza, who smirked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, I told you I'd get you back, didn't I?"

For a few seconds, Terra didn't know _what _to think. She knew Sanza wasn't trying to be mean by shoving her into the water, but she was still mad... he'd gotten her all wet, and for no apparent reason, other than... other than to take her mind off of the painful subject he'd just brought up.

With a smirk of her own, Terra caused the ground beneath Sanza's feet to jerk forward, causing him to fall face-first into the pond, right next to Terra. The splash got the blonde even more wet, and as Sanza sat up, blinking his eyes in shock, Terra dunked him right back under the water.

"Ooops, my hands slipped..." said Terra, giggling as Sanza struggled for a second or two beneath her grasp. As she loosened up, she could feel his hands encircling her wrists, and soon, he'd pulled her under the water with him. The two came back up at the same time and began splashing each other playfully before beginning to wrestle in the pond, getting themselves more and more wet in the process.

As the two continued to playfight in the pond, several interested onlookers gathered around to watch... and one of them, a young teenage boy, pointed at the water and shouted to Sanza and Terra what both of them already knew.

"Hey, you shouldn't be in that water!" shouted the boy, pushing up his thick-rimmed glasses with one hand while continuing to point toward Sanza and Terra with the other. "Ducks and fish live in that water, and they... they DO STUFF in it!"

Sanza and Terra stopped their wrestling for a moment and looked at one another, blinking twice before breaking out into uproarious laughter, falling back into the water and kicking up and down repeatedly, convulsing in their hysterics. Yes, the two of them were wet, and making fools of themselves in front of everyone in the park... but neither of them cared. They were having too much fun... and in that fun, Terra had pushed the subject of her painful past to the back of her mind once more.

Still, as painful as it was, she trusted Sanza with all of her heart... and whenever he wanted to know about her life before Titans Tower, all he had to do was ask.

"_I know you'll never judge me, no matter what... I can tell you anything, and you'll never get mad..."_

It was just one more reason why she loved Sanza so much...

O-O-O

Later on, the two of them went out to dinner... and both were still slightly wet, allowing themselves to dry the rest of the way on the open-air roof of one of the city's most famous pizza parlors, known for its curious shape... it was designed to look just like a slice of pizza.

"I guess my mom was right about changing out of those clothes," said Sanza, laughing as he poured a generous amount of parmesan cheese onto a slice of pepperoni pizza. "If I got my church clothes wet, she'd kill me..."

"She must be psychic or something," joked Terra, reaching over and taking a slice of pizza for herself. She brushed her hand through her hair, wringing out a few of the drops of water that were still accumulated into it. "As for me, I've got like ten different copies of this outfit, so I'll be okay..."

The two continued to enjoy their pizza for nearly an hour, talking, laughing, joking amongst themselves as the sun began to set in the sky... it had been such a wonderful day, and it wasn't nearly over yet...

"_But this time, everything's going to go totally perfect..." _thought Terra, picking up the last slice of pizza and taking a small bite. _"It has to..."_

Sanza took a sip from his drink, swirling it around a bit and listening to the ice inside hitting the sides of the cup. It was empty... he'd finished his second refill. He looked across the table at Terra, who was halfway done with the remaining slice of pizza... as soon as their eyes met, Terra set down the slice.

"Would you... like the rest?" said Terra, offering up the half-eaten slice to Sanza. "I don't have a cold or anything, but-"

"I have an idea," Sanza said, picking up the piece of pizza and turning it sideways, so that the sides of the crust were facing toward him and Terra. "Here, I'll put this end in my mouth, and... you put the other end in your mouth, and we'll both eat until-"

Terra quickly realized what would happen... their lips would meet in the middle, and... they would kiss. She'd seen this before... only in movies, of course. She giggled slightly to herself and placed her hand on Sanza's, pushing both it and the pizza down to the table. Then, she leaned toward him, looking into his eyes, her lips inching closer and closer to his.

"Sanza, if you wanted a kiss, you could've just told me..." said Terra quietly. She continued to lean in, until finally, their lips met... they kissed quickly before leaning back into their chairs. Terra's face was slightly red, while Sanza was smiling warmly, his eyes blinking at a much faster pace than normal.

"So... you don't wanna do the thing with the pizza?"

"Well... I just thought it would be a lot more romantic with spaghetti," said Terra, finishing off the last slice of pizza and wiping the sauce from her lips. "Pizza's kind of mushy, and with all that sauce and grease, I just... thought it'd feel kinda weird."

The two looked at each other for several seconds, then both of them broke out into laughter as Sanza realized how dumb his idea really was.

"_It's hard to even think clearly when I'm around Terra..." _Sanza thought, a smile on his face as the two stood up and exited the pizzeria together. _"Mm... I wonder where we're going next?"_

O-O-O

Visiting Ben's Diner again with Sanza brought back a lot of old memories for Terra... most of them unpleasant. She still remembered every second of that night she spent with Beast Boy... the two of them seated together at the counter, Terra looking into the mirror and seeing her own twisted reflection... and a vision of Slade approaching from behind.

This time when Terra looked into the mirror, all she could see was herself... and Sanza seated next to her, looking as happy as he could be... happy because he was with her, and nothing was going to ruin that happiness. Not even Slade.

"I must say," said Sanza, taking his first forkful of cherry pie and shoveling it into his mouth, "I did _not _know about this place... usually when I wanted pie, I just got some from the cafeteria at the office where my mom works... it's mostly re-heated storebought stuff, but it's okay."

"So... you like the pie?"

"I love the pie, but what I really love is spending time with you, Terra..." Sanza looked over at her, knowing that what he said was rather cheesy... but it was the truth. Every second he spent with Terra that day was precious... because when he was undergoing the True Master's difficult training regime, these moments would likely be the only thing keeping him going... remembering the last precious hours he spent before the most grueling experience of his life.

"Thanks..." said Terra, smiling as she swirled the stool that she was sitting on from side to side. She still hadn't told Sanza that _this _was the place... the diner she and Beast Boy had come to together. She'd told him what had happened on that night, but not where they had gone... she didn't want to say anything else to dampen the mood. "Sooo... you up for a little bit of fun after this? There's an amusement park nearby, it's pretty cheap to get in and we can ride as many rides as we want... or do you have other plans?"

"Well, I sorta do... but we can do my plans after we do yours," said Sanza, finishing the remainder of his pie and hopping up from the stool. "Hey... is that a pool table over there?"

Sanza walked over to the pool tables and got a cue stick from the wall, before picking up a rack of multi-colored pool balls and laying them out at the middle of one of the tables. Terra followed him over, observing Sanza as he lifted up the triangular holder from the balls after positioning them right at the center of the table.

"You play pool?"

"Yeah," said Sanza, giving Terra a sly smile as he placed the cue ball across from the fifteen balls at the center of the table. "I always wanted to hustle somebody... you know, pretend I wasn't very good at pool and trick them into betting a lot of money on a game... then beating them and taking their money."

Sanza looked up at Terra to gauge her reaction... she wasn't happy, but then again, she wasn't angry either... after all, she knew Sanza was a thief, and hustling pool sounded like something he would do... then again, she knew he was a kind enough person not to hustle money out of a little kid or something.

At least, she _thought _he was a kind enough person not to do that.

"So... what stopped you?" Terra asked as Sanza lined up his first shot. "Your mom telling you you couldn't? Or did you feel bad about tricking someone out of their money?"

Sanza didn't answer until he'd taken his first shot... then gave a slight wince as none of the balls went into the pockets.

"Actually, it's that I'm really not very good at pool," said Sanza, graciously handing Terra the cue stick and stepping off to the side. "It's not like we have a pool table at home so I can practice or anything, so... I've never been all that good."

Terra walked over to the table, crouching down behind the cue ball and positioning her own shot. She took aim at one of the striped balls lying a good distance away from one of the four corner pockets. Then, she took her shot. The cue ball struck the striped ball and knocked it right in, giving Terra the first point of the match.

"Are you sure you're not trying to hustle me or anything?" asked Terra, smiling as she took aim at another striped ball and missed knocking it in. She gave the cue stick back to Sanza, who was able to pocket one of the solid balls before missing his second shot and being forced to relinquish the stick back to her.

"Well... if you wanted to find out, we could make a little wager..." said Sanza, pulling out his wallet and waving it in front of Terra's face.

"I think I'll pass," Terra replied, taking in her next shot and knocking in two of the striped balls, much to Sanza's surprise. "Besides, I think I'd end up winning and making you mad at me..."

"Y...yeah," Sanza said, putting his wallet back into his pocket and watching as Terra sunk yet another of the striped balls with her second shot. "I... I think we should just keep this a nice, friendly game."

Terra hadn't yet told Sanza that there was a pool table in Titans Tower, and that she and Beast Boy played frequently when they weren't training or out fighting villains... and that in the few weeks she'd spent at the Tower, she'd grown quite good at pool. But, then again, it hadn't come up... at least until now.

"Eight ball, side pocket..." said Terra, positioning her cue stick to knock in the last of the balls and win the game. "By the way, you want best out of five, or..."

"Sure," replied Sanza. _"She'll probably kick my butt two more times, but... if it means getting to spend more time with her, I'm all for it."_

Sure enough, Terra pocketed the last of the balls, and just like that, Sanza had been beaten... the two then retrieved the balls from the pockets and got them ready for the next game.

Sanza found it rather fascinating that Terra was so good at pool... he then pictured Beast Boy, probably having trouble even holding his cue stick the right way... and he wondered if Beast Boy felt the same way about playing pool with Terra as he did... he didn't play with her so much for the game, but for the companionship... and he began to wonder if the weeks ahead, lonely time spent training with the True Master, would be worth all of the trouble... all of the pain, all of the hardship...

"_And all of the time I won't be able to see Terra..." _thought Sanza, looking up into the blonde's eyes as she took another shot with her cue stick. _"Of course it's worth it... it's worth it for the same reason it'll be hard to do it..."_

O-O-O

The amusement park had been repaired since the night that Beast Boy and Terra paid a visit... its massive Ferris wheel, destroyed in Beast Boy and Terra's battle with Slade, had been reconstructed in all its glory... its bright lights and flashing 'Big Wheel' letters lighting up half of the park.

Terra gripped Sanza's hand tightly as the two of them entered the park together... Terra began to shiver, not from the cold, but from the fact that Slade could be lurking around every corner... seeking to make Sanza his next apprentice.

"Terra... you okay...?" asked Sanza, pulling his companion slightly closer to his body... the slight breeze added a bit of a chill to the warm springtime air, but in long sleeves, he figured Terra would be all right. "Your belly's not cold, is it?"

Terra looked down at her midriff, giggling slightly before shaking her head.

"...you're sure?" asked Sanza, smoothly going around behind Terra and wrapping his arms around her, before allowing his fingers to gently squeeze the area of skin around her bellybutton, causing Terra to let out a series of loud giggles.

"Stop... you're as bad as your sister!" laughed Terra, gently nudging Sanza away before he could tickle her anymore. "I'm fine... come on, let's go ride some rides."

And they did, tracing almost the exact route that Terra and Beast Boy had taken on that fateful night... they went on the bumper cars, they explored the haunted house, they rode around on the roller coaster... they even took a few pictures, and the camera once again captured Sanza attempting to tickle Terra, just as he'd done after the two had entered the park before.

Of course, they ended up at the same place as well... on the Ferris wheel, slowly circling upward inside one of the large gondolas suspended between the ride's metal spokes. They sat together during the ride's journey, looking out at the skyline as the stars twinkled in the sky above.

"_This is so eerie..." _thought Terra, looking at Sanza before looking down at her hands, which were clenched together in her lap. She was getting that feeling of foreboding... and could easily have imagined Beast Boy sitting next to her, just as he had on the night of her betrayal. She was having fun, but... she was still twitching nervously, and Sanza could tell. He reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Terra... you look really nervous..." Sanza began to wonder if he'd done something offputting... he _had _been rather forward with her that evening, tickling her a few times and trying to kiss her... was that scaring her off? Was he being too affectionate? After all, Terra wasn't Cleo... and he didn't want to go any faster than Terra wanted to, he didn't want to make her feel even the least bit uncomfortable, knowing how much trust she had in him... "If it's because of me-"

"It's not because of you, Sanza, it's just... well, this is where Beast Boy and I came, the night I... the night I revealed myself as a traitor."

Letting out a sigh, Terra pointed across the park to the nearby hall of mirrors.

"You see that? That's the building where... where Beast Boy and I parted ways for good... where he told me I didn't have any friends, and where I made my final decision to become Slade's apprentice."

Terra looked over at Sanza, a slightly guilty look on her face.

"I... I wanted to come here... and I wanted to come to the diner, because I thought, well... I thought that maybe I could undo some of my old mistakes if I went to those places on a date that didn't end in total disaster. I know it's kind of silly, and maybe kind of weird, but..."

Sanza placed his hand on Terra's cheek, gently brushing back the hair from her face. He looked right into her eyes, trying to communicate to her that she had nothing to feel guilty about anymore... that her betrayal was in the past, that everything was in the past... and the only thing she had to care about anymore was the future... a wonderful, wonderful future.

"Thank you, Terra..." said Sanza, pressing his forehead gently to hers. "For a really beautiful evening... this place is great, and... so was that diner, I mean, I never knew you were so good at pool... that's really awesome!"

Terra gave a quick smile, then turned slightly away, looking down at the floor of the gondola. Somehow, she knew that Sanza would say what he did... and somehow, she knew he meant it. No matter what she told him, he would never get mad at her... no matter what she did, he would never turn on her... he was the first person she'd ever met who she could say that about.

It was finally time for her to tell him about her past... she _had _to tell him, tell him things that she'd never told to anyone... not to any of the Titans, not even to Beast Boy...

"Sanza... I think I'm ready now... ready to tell you about my life before coming to Titans Tower."

She looked at him again, and he reached over and took her hands in his... no matter how unpleasant Terra's past was, Sanza was ready to listen.

And no matter what she said, he would still love her.

"...I'm a princess, Sanza. I'm the princess of an Eastern European country known as Markovia... it was part of the Soviet Union when I was born, but the people there still considered my parents and I to be royalty. But it was a time of great changes, and the Soviet authorities were cracking down... so scientists working for my parents decided to construct a weapon, a weapon that could be used if the royal family was attacked... and as it turned out, that weapon was me."

Sanza listened intently as Terra told him more... about how she was experimented on by the scientists working for her parents, about how her genes were modified, manipulated... in order to bring out a great, dormant power lying within.

"I now had these strange powers, but... I was very young... and one day, I wandered too far from the palace... I wanted to get away from the scientists who were experimenting on me, the experiments were painful and I just wanted them to leave me alone... but Soviet soldiers caught up with me, and I was surrounded... they were going to kill me, so I... I..."

By now, tears were streaking down Terra's face, faster than Sanza could wipe them away with his hand. Finally, she broke down, leaning into him with her face pressed against his chest, allowing her tears to soak into his shirt. She didn't have to say it, Sanza knew what Terra did...

"...you defended yourself," said Sanza quietly, stroking his hands through Terra's hair. "They were going to kill you, you had no choice..."

Terra continued to sob for several more seconds, before pulling away from Sanza's chest just enough to be able to speak.

"But... I... I killed them, Sanza...! I killed all of them, I sucked them right into the ground, I... I'm a murderer, Sanza..."

"If you're a murderer, that makes me one too... remember Dr. Ruell? And... and Sorel, he burned alive right in front of my eyes because of what I did... so if you're a murderer..."

"That's different," sobbed Terra, who by now had pulled away from Sanza and was able to look him right in the eyes. "You didn't mean to kill those people, but I did, Sanza, I... I..."

"You just wanted them to go away, and you did the only thing you could... Terra... it's all right..."

The pain in Terra's voice was intense... her head filled with bad memories, terrible memories of screaming soldiers and of the ground opening, and then closing again... memories soon followed by those of her being separated from her parents, of her being put on a plane and flown to America... so she wouldn't be blamed by the Soviets for what she had done.

"After I came to America... the Soviet Union collapsed, but... the people who'd come with me told me I couldn't come back to Markovia, something had happened to my parents and it wasn't safe for me..." Terra's voice was still sad, but she was able to compose herself to speak, and she seemed to be holding it together much better than she was when she talked about killing the soldiers.

She continued to tell Sanza of her early days in America... how she escaped from her handlers a few years later and became a runaway at the tender age of seven... and then, how she spent the next several years trying to use her powers to help people... in order to atone for her murder of the Soviet soldiers.

"I'd go from town to town, I'd stop a few crimes and the people there would like me... but then when a bigger crisis came, when I had to use my powers to stop something bigger... that's when the trouble started."

Earthquakes, mudslides, volcanoes... everywhere Terra went, she created more problems than had been there when she'd first arrived. To her credit, she hadn't killed a single person... but several times, she'd come very close.

"About a year before coming to Jump City, I stopped at a town that was having a problem with floods... I used my powers to build a dam, and... for a while, the dam held."

The tears were beginning to come back to Terra's eyes... it was obvious that this was another particularly painful story, and Sanza instinctively put his arms around her, pulling her close as she continued to speak.

"The town celebrated by holding a big party at a park near the dam... everyone was there, including all of the children from the school... but... sometime during the party, there was an earthquake..."

Terra's efforts to build the dam had triggered a fault beneath the city, causing it to store up much more energy than it would normally, and causing an earthquake that was supposed to happen fifty years down the road to happen in just a few days. The force of the quake caused the dam to burst, and sent a wall of water rushing into the park... and toward all of those children.

"The water... it came in so fast, I couldn't save any of the kids, I... I can still hear them, screaming for help as the water carried them away..."

More tears streaked down Terra's face, and Sanza once again found himself hugging her tightly to his chest, muffling her sobs and trying to reassure her that the flood wasn't her fault... that the near-deaths of dozens of young children hadn't been caused by her then out-of-control powers.

"Terra... you did the best you could... what happened wasn't your fault..."

"Fifty-one children... they'd all be dead if... if there hadn't been another hero there that day," said Terra, sniffling and wiping some of the tears from her eyes. "Wonder Girl, that's what her name was... she... she did something, I can't remember, but... she saved all those kids... and I was the one who got the blame for nearly killing them..."

In her intense distress, Terra had turned away from the flooded park, not wanting to watch the children drown... but at that moment, Wonder Girl arrived and pulled the kids out with her lasso, several at a time... managing to get all fifty-one children out of the water, and using CPR to revive the four who had nearly drowned. She'd tried to comfort Terra after the townspeople chased her out, but Terra would have none of it, floating off on one of her rocks and hiding out in a cave for the next several weeks, racked with guilt... it had been one of the lowest, darkest times of her entire life.

Now, as she sat in the Ferris wheel with Sanza with her head bowed, she tried to remember all the good things that were happening to her. She was back with the Titans... she was using her powers to help people... and sitting next to her was the love of her life, someone who would never judge her, and who, even now, was trying to comfort her as she shared with him the most shameful incidents of her entire life.

"Terra... it sounds to me like you worked every day to try and get control of your powers... nobody can blame you for that."

"But... even though I knew my powers were unstable and dangerous, I still tried to help people... I put them in danger..."

Sanza cupped his hand beneath Terra's chin, gently pushing her head up to look at him.

"But look at all the people you're helping now. You've saved the city, you've saved the Titans... and yesterday, you saved me. I know you might think that's insignificant compared to all the people you think you've hurt, but... you've got your whole life ahead of you, Terra. And I'll be right beside you, every step of the way."

He gripped his hands tightly around hers, and kept his eyes focused, trying to keep her from looking down again. Terra blinked back a few of her tears and began to smile... she was right about Sanza, she was absolutely right... no matter what she did, he would never, ever judge her... and he would always love her.

"Thank you, Sanza... thank you so much..."

The two embraced as the gondola they were in slowly returned back to the ground... then, the two stepped out together, hand-in-hand.

"So... what was it that you wanted to show me after we got done here?" asked Terra, as the two headed back toward the front of the amusement park.

"Well, you saw some of it earlier today... I think you'll really like the rest of it, too."

O-O-O

If the Cathedral of St. Ignacius looked ornate on the outside, it was gorgeous on the inside... its sanctuary lined with rows and rows of pews, and its walls decorated with intricate carvings of angels and demons... with the stained glass windows above portraying the Stations of the Cross, the fourteen events that took place in the days leading to the death and resurrection of Jesus. Though Terra was largely unfamiliar with the story, the beauty of the windows was not lost to her eyes... along with the beauty of the rest of the church.

"This place is so beautiful..." said Terra, awed as she walked down the center aisle with Sanza. As her eyes glanced toward the altar at the end of the room, Sanza pointed to the wooden cross hanging over head.

"Funny story," replied Sanza, a smile on his face. "When me and Sedaris were fighting in here, Sedaris took that cross down and tried to hit me with it."

"...that would've been painful, I bet..." said Terra, wincing as she imagined just how forcefully Sedaris likely would've been able to swing the cross. "Did he hit you?"

"No, as it was coming down, I jumped on top of it, ran across it, and kicked him in the face," said Sanza, laughing to himself as he and Terra ascended the marble steps upward to the altar. "You probably know the rest... after all, it was you and the others who came here to save me..."

"Yeah..." said Terra, nodding as she and Sanza walked to the center of the altar. The two of them stopped, and turned to face one another, briefly glancing into each other's eyes before Terra turned slightly away. "I... just thought of something."

"...is it... you don't think I brought you here to convert you, do you? Because I totally don't care what religion you are, really... I mean, I'm not really a very good Catholic anyway, so..."

"No..." Terra blushed slightly, looking back in Sanza's eyes after realizing exactly where the two of them were standing. "I was just thinking that this place... would be a lovely place to..."

"...get married?" said Sanza, finishing Terra's sentence for her before laughing nervously, realizing that Terra had just gotten the joke. "Eheheheh... I didn't bring you here to propose either... I mean, we've known each other for like what, a month?"

Terra giggled and nodded, blushing even more and looking out from the altar, gazing across the pews for a moment and imagining just what her wedding day might look like... sure, she probably wouldn't have any of her family there... maybe some of her friends from the Murakami School... well, if they still remembered her, anyway. She then imagined herself in a beautiful, glistening wedding dress... her fingers covered with silky white gloves... her eyes staring across the altar, right into the eyes of...

"It's... way too early to be thinking of that, Sanza..." said Terra, giggling and looking back toward Sanza. "I mean, how old are we, like, 17?"

"Yeah... well, I am, I don't know how old you are..."

"I'm sixteen," said Terra. "I turn seventeen a few months from now..."

"Oh... it's a good thing you don't turn seventeen in a couple weeks, or I'd miss the party!"

Terra laughed, and Sanza did as well... but both of them felt a twinge of sadness, knowing that their time together was growing short... and that it had to be nearly midnight by now. Sanza's mom was probably expecting him back home, and as for Terra, she had to return to Titans Tower.

But it had been a wonderful day... probably the best of Terra's life, and maybe the best of Sanza's as well. The next two weeks, they both knew, would be an ordeal... but they would get through it, and Sanza would come back stronger than ever, and more capable than he'd ever been of protecting his family, the city, and Terra from the wicked machinations of Slade.

"Sanza..." said Terra, taking his hand in hers and walking with him back down from the altar, "would you... take me back to Titans Tower?"

"Of course," he replied, smiling back at her. They walked down the aisle, and for the briefest of moments, both of them imagined their wedding march playing... but they knew that that would be several years away. Whether they would still even be together then, neither of them knew...

But both of them sincerely hoped that they would.

O-O-O

When Sanza and Terra returned to Titans Tower, they didn't go right in the front door... instead, Terra told Sanza to go around with her to the rocky shores of the island... facing the tranquil bay and the ocean beyond.

Small waves gathered up on the shore as the two of them stood just a few feet from the water. The light of the full moon illuminated the waters below, casting a brilliant, beautiful sparkle on the crests of the waves.

Terra had been out here before... not with Sanza, but with Beast Boy, the two of them skipping stones off of the water... and it was here that, for the first time, Beast Boy learned of the unstable nature of Terra's powers. But now, everything was different. For the first time in her life, Terra was sure of herself... confident that her powers were a blessing and not a curse, confident that she had a future... a future with Sanza, the person who had shown her just how much of a gift her powers could be.

Maybe... maybe she could start to return the favor.

"Sanza, I'd like to show you something," said Terra, walking over to the water and removing her shoes... then, she removed her socks as well, tossing them aside and looking back at him as the water began lapping past her bare feet. "Watch closely now..."

"_If she's going to show me that she can swim, I can do that too..." _thought Sanza, who tried staving off his thoughts just long enough to see exactly what Terra wanted to show him. _"Something involving fish, maybe?"_

But instead, Terra took a single step, out onto the surface of the water... and her foot didn't sink. It remained on the surface, making a small ripple but little else... then, Terra took another step, out into water several inches deep... and again, her foot remained right on the surface. She walked out even more, ten yards, then twenty... and then fifty, her feet remaining on the surface of the water the entire time. She then turned to Sanza, waving out at him from a good distance across the bay... she was standing on the surface of the water, walking on top of it...

"_...she just walked on water..." _thought Sanza, his eyes wide and his mouth agape. _"That's unreal..."_

"Sanza!" shouted Terra, gesturing for him to come across and join her. "Come over here, you can do it too...!"

Sanza, naturally, was extremely skeptical... whatever Terra had done to be able to walk on water, it had to be something to do with her powers... powers that he didn't have. But he did trust Terra... he trusted her completely, and he knew that she wasn't going to have him try to walk across the surface of the water if she knew he was just going to fall in.

And besides, the water near the shore was only a few inches deep anyway... so even if she was trying to trick him, he'd only get his feet wet. He'd gotten _everything _wet earlier that day.

"All right, I'm coming..." Sanza removed his shoes and socks, and then tenuously made his way over to the water. He took a step out and could feel something under his foot... a tiny bit of water, along with something that felt smooth and hard... he stepped out again, so that both of his feet were on the water... and found that he was standing on the surface, just like Terra was.

"See?" said Terra, giggling as Sanza took a third step out onto the water. "You can come all the way out to me... so hurry up!"

As Sanza began to walk across the surface of the water, he soon realized exactly how Terra was making him able to walk on it... she was using her powers to crystallize the sand beneath the ocean and to lift up tiny platforms underneath his feet. It wasn't exactly walking on water, but it was miraculous enough... and it was also a truly amazing feeling.

He walked out to her and swept her up in his arms, hoping that the sudden act of lifting Terra's body upward wouldn't jar her concentration and cause the platforms to dissolve... but she had full control, and was able to keep the platforms pushing Sanza to the surface... and was even able to levitate new ones up the moment Sanza set her back down.

"I... I thought you might like it..." said Terra, smiling as she and Sanza stood out in the middle of the bay.

"It's amazing..." Sanza replied, "but how do you keep the waves from knocking us off these platforms?"

"I raised a barrier of rock around the two of us to hold back the waves while we were out here," said Terra, indicating a circular area about fifty feet around the two. "Now if something really big comes along..."

"That's all right, Terra... this is awesome."

The two of them continued to talk to one another without a care in the world, trying to make their last few moments together before Sanza's trip as special as they could... and soon, they found themselves wrapped in each other's arms, sharing a final embrace.

"I'm gonna miss you... so much..." said Terra, her arms gently wrapped around the back of Sanza's neck.

"I'll miss you too... but when I come back, we're gonna take down Slade... together."

The two of them slowly parted from their embrace, looking into each other's eyes with their arms still slightly around the other. They remembered the moments they spent with one another, not just today, but during the past two weeks... and their fateful meetings just a month ago... and Terra remembered that were it not for Sanza, she wouldn't even be standing here now, let alone standing with him out in the middle of the bay. She'd be a soulless zombie, a slave to the powers of the Crisis Crystal... or perhaps she'd even be dead, blown to pieces by Sedaris' bomb, along with Raven, and the shattered remnants of Beast Boy's heart.

"Sanza..." said Terra, looking right up into his eyes, her lips getting closer and closer to his, her love evident in every word she spoke. "You're my miracle..."

"And you're my angel," Sanza replied, kissing Terra deeply as a single tear slipped down the side of her face... not a tear of guilt, or of sadness, but one of joy... joy that finally, she'd found the person she could always count on.

O-O-O

The next morning, just as the sun began to rise over Jump City, Sanza was on the roof of Titans Tower. He was walking toward the T-Jet, with Robin standing just outside.

"Sanza, are you sure you wanna do this?"

"I'm completely sure," said Sanza. He'd thought of bringing his Red X suit, but Robin had instructed him not to... the use of any gadgets was considered cheating in the True Master's eyes, and any thoughts that Sanza had of doing just that were discouraged by Robin's warnings about how the True Master treated cheaters. _"I _really _wish I had my suit right about now..."_

Sanza had arrived dressed in a black karate gi, complete with a red belt tied around his waist. It wasn't the most functional outfit in the world, but it was comfortable... and Sanza thought he looked rather good in it.

"Then let's go," said Robin, climbing into the cockpit of the T-Jet and waiting until Sanza got into the seat behind him before taking off into the brilliant red sky. "Next stop, the True Master's village."

As the intense G-forces of the quick takeoff pushed Sanza back into his seat, he said a silent prayer... the next two weeks were going to require all the strength Sanza had... and maybe even a little help from above.

"_Lord, please make these two weeks go by really, really fast... Amen."_

O-O-O

Couple of notes on this chapter... one, a lot of the details about Terra's past I changed from the original comic version, I think they were more befitting the animated character. And two, the title of the chapter is an homage to Blue Ten's "Ten Leisurely Days", a fic as good as if not better than any of the Titan fics I've written, and one that you should definitely check out while waiting for the next chapter of this fic.


	16. Sanza's Ordeal

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

It was still sunrise when the T-Jet finally arrived at the small Chinese village where Sanza would be training for the next two weeks. Flying west against the rotation of the Earth, the jet had followed the sunrise all the way across the Pacific Ocean... for Sanza, it was the longest morning of his entire life.

The jet set down just outside the village, and without a word, Sanza climbed out, raising his arms and giving a loud, exhausted yawn.

"Don't get too comfortable," admonished Robin, smiling as Sanza from the cockpit of the jet. "You've got a long journey ahead of you... and if I were you, I'd reach the top of the mountain before sunset."

"...thanks," Sanza replied unenthusiastically, his bare feet brushing against the dirt path that led into the village. "So am I supposed to head for that mountain, or what?"

He pointed out past the village, to the tall, jagged peak that lay just beyond. Robin nodded in affirmation, and Sanza let out a sigh, slumping his shoulders and rolling his eyes.

"This would be _so _much easier with my Red X suit, you know," Sanza groaned.

"There's an easy way, and then there's the right way," replied Robin, remembering what he'd learned in his own lessons from the True Master. "Now you'd better get going... I barely reached the summit before sunset, so I know it's going to be even tougher for you."

And to discourage Sanza from engaging it any more small talk, the jet took off into the sky, leaving Sanza alone to face the trials of the day. With another loud sigh, the young man began to trudge down the path toward the village, his growling stomach reminding him that he was way past due for some lunch... not to mention some breakfast.

"_I'm Sanza Salazar... and today is going to be the longest day of my life."_

O-O-O

The longest day of Sanza's life continued as he walked past the wooden archway that marked the entrance to the small village at the base of the True Master's mountain. As soon as he entered the village, Sanza knew that he was no longer in the bustling, vibrant city he called home. The village was much more peaceful, and quiet, with only the sounds of the chirping birds, the rushing waters, the wind blowing through the trees, and the chatter of residents providing the background noise for the start of the young man's journey. He could see a few huts around him, and of course, the large mountain looming high above the far side of the village... but other than that, there was nothing... nothing but the trees and the birds to keep him company.

"_I could never live in a place like this..." _thought Sanza, looking around at the nearby buildings and the townspeople walking past them. _"Nothing to see, nowhere to go... where are the stores? The arcades? The fast food places?"_

As he continued to walk through the small village, he could see a statue of a proud warrior standing erect in the town square. He observed the statue for only a moment, walking past it before making his way to the arch at the back of the village... beyond which was another dirt road leading past several fields directly to the mountain path.

"_Probably not anything good here to steal," _thought Sanza, briefly glancing at some of the food carts rolling past. _"Even if there was, these people are dirt poor... I'm not gonna take anything from them."_

If he thought some of the people in his neighborhood had it rough, one look at these villagers proved to Sanza that there were a vast amount of people who had it worse than even the poorest residents of Jump City... but while the poor people in the city were angry, sometimes desperate, these people were happy... content with their lot in life, content without television, or cars, or fast food...

But Sanza wasn't here to learn a life lesson, or to stare at poor people all day. He was here to train under the True Master, here to learn skills that he'd need to protect the people he loved from Slade. And with that thought in his mind, he passed through the gate leading out of the village and began walking up the dirt path to the base of the mountain. As he did, he noticed several fields on either side of the path... all were empty, save for one, occupied solely by a short, unassuming elderly woman with a small black hat on the top of her wrinkled head. Sanza barely noticed her, but she noticed him, and as soon as he began to walk past, she plucked a turnip from the ground and threw it directly at the side of Sanza's head.

It hit him in the middle of his cheek, splattering instantly and covering his face in sticky purple juice. He let out a cry of discontent and turned to face the woman, who began walking toward him, cane in hand.

"Hey... hey, old lady, what did you do that for...?!" Sanza yelled indignantly, angrily wiping the turnip juices from his face. As he did, the lady rapped him hard on the forehead, causing him to let out an even louder cry. "OW! What the...?"

"You should be more respectful toward your elders," snapped the woman, whose name was Chu-hui. "Why have you come to this village, and why are you approaching the True Master's mountain?"

Now extremely annoyed, his head still throbbing from the cane strike, Sanza rubbed his forehead and narrowed his eyes, wondering exactly what business this old woman had questioning his reason for approaching the mountain. It wasn't like _she _was going to train with the True Master, after all.

"I... I want to train under the True Master," said Sanza, his voice lined with annoyed anger. "What's it to you?"

Clearly irritated by Sanza's disrespect, Chu-hui briefly pondered striking him again... but then she noticed his attire, realizing that, unlike many other prospective students, he'd come dressed for the occasion. Perhaps if he looked the part, he could possibly be prepared to train under the True Master... but the mountain would be the judge of that, and from the young man's attitude, it was apparent that he'd soon be judged quite harshly.

"I see that you're already prepared to undertake the trials of the mountain," said Chu-hui, producing a small, brown burlap sack and loading up a few dozen turnips into it. "You've already left the attachments of the outside world behind..."

"Uh, yeah... Robin told me to dress like this before I came-"

The mention of one of her best students immediately piqued Chu-hui's interest, and she raised an eyebrow, just before handing the sack to Sanza. Sanza took it, surprised for a moment by its weight before using the straps attached to it to sling it across his back.

"So, you know Robin, do you? He came up here some time back... one of the True Master's best students, he was, and even he struggled to reach the top of the mountain. What makes you think you can do the same?"

Sanza blinked for several moments, wondering just how this ordinary farmer knew so much about Robin, and apparently about the True Master.

"_Considering how small this village is, though, it's probably the kind of place where everybody knows everybody else, so... I guess I shouldn't be too surprised."_

Sanza glanced up toward the mountain, then looked back toward Chu-hui, who was tapping one of her feet repeatedly against the ground, waiting for Sanza to answer her question.

"...I have to do this," said Sanza, trying to sound as determined as he could. Chu-hui stared into his eyes for a few moments, and for the briefest instant, she could see the sincere desire in the depths of Sanza's soul... he truly did want to reach the top of the mountain, truly did want to train under the True Master... but desire alone meant nothing. One had to have the ability as well... along with a focused attitude. The attitude seemed at the moment to be Sanza's biggest problem.

"Did Robin tell you that you had to reach the top of the mountain before sunset?"

"...yeah, he did," replied Sanza, letting out a sigh and turning back toward the mountain. "You know, I'd have a lot easier time getting there before sunset if you wouldn't ask me so many questions."

And with that, Sanza continued down the path with the turnip-filled sack hanging loosely from his shoulders. Chu-hui watched him as he approached the mountain, silently shaking her head and holding her cane at her side.

"_With an attitude like that, he will never reach the top of the mountain... and the True Master will never train him."_

O-O-O

Sanza could feel his stomach growling as the mountain loomed in front of him... and it was then that he remembered the sack of turnips that the old lady had given him. He reached into the backpack behind him and took out one of the turnips, holding it up for a moment and inspecting its leathery surface.

"_Yuck..." _Sanza thought, brushing off a few flecks of dirt and mud that had been caked onto the turnip during its time beneath the ground. _"When mom buys these from the store, they're usually clean... and even then, she washes them for about twenty seconds first... this'll probably taste like crap, but I am hungry..."_

Steeling his resolve, and his stomach, Sanza took a bite out of the turnip... and as soon as the juices from inside it touched his tongue, his eyes lit up. The turnip was _good... _very much so, and that, combined with Sanza's hunger, meant that it didn't take long for him to devour the rest of the turnip as he began his trek up the mountain path.

The path was very broad at first, not very steep at all, and the sides of the path were lined with many trees. The cool morning breeze brushed past Sanza's silk-clad shoulders, and caused him to shiver for a moment, though he quickly concluded that the breeze felt rather nice, and would probably feel even moreso after a few hours of mountain climbing, when he knew he'd have worked up a sweat. Despite a few small rocks here and there, the cold dirt ground felt good on Sanza's feet, and he soon felt energized enough from a second turnip to break off into a run.

Once he did, it didn't take long for him to see a broad, rapidly-moving river looming just ahead... and soon, he realized that in order to continue along the path, he'd have to cross the river. With the only bridge across apparently out of service, it didn't take Sanza long to figure out that crossing the river would be easier said than done.

"_I could probably swim across, but... that water looks awfully fast..." _thought Sanza, hesitantly approaching a small wooden plank at the near side of the river. He glanced across and could see a similar plank on the other side, but without his Red X suit, there was no way he was making the jump. _"Damn... guess I'd better swim..."_

Sanza began to back up from the planks, preparing to make a running leap. He wouldn't be able to span the width of the river in a single jump, but maybe if he could get halfway across, swimming the rest of the way would be a bit easier. Unfortunately, just as he began to run toward the platform, he could feel a large hand tapping him on his shoulder. He spun around, and was now face-to-face with a massive bear, towering several feet over him.

"_Holy... fucking... shit..." _thought Sanza, blinking his eyes several times and backing away from the bear as quickly as he could, terrified by its imposing figure. Adding to Sanza's bewilderment was the fact that the bear was wearing armor... which if anything, made it seem even more scary. "What the hell are you?"

"I am the Guardian of the River," said the bear, its deep, growling voice booming in Sanza's ears. "And if you wish to cross the river and continue down the path, you must first get past me."

Sanza looked at the bear, then at the raging river behind him... then again at the bear, and then at the river.

"_Wait a minute, this guy is behind me, and the river's in front of me, so..."_

Without a word, Sanza turned and made a break for it, running toward the river as fast as he could and taking a running leap from the end of the pier... only to be stopped in midair by the bear's powerful hand, grabbing Sanza by the scruff of the neck and flinging him backward with dangerous force. Sanza landed on his back about fifteen feet away from the river, hitting the ground hard and rolling along for about a second before landing on his face, a dull ache quickly filling his entire body. The bag of turnips that he'd been carrying had been knocked clear into the river, and Sanza could only watch helplessly as his day's food supply was swept away.

"_Now _you must get past me," said the Guardian of the River, now clearly between the river and Sanza, who was coughing as he picked himself up from the ground, his black karate gi now covered with a layer of fine dust. "If you can do that, you can continue up the mountain."

Sanza looked up at the bear, who had to be nearly ten feet tall... and more muscular than any human opponent he'd ever fought against.

"_Get past HIM? I'll be lucky to put a scratch on him..." _thought Sanza, crouching into a fighting stance and preparing for what was sure to be one of the toughest fights of his life. With his X suit and gadgets, this fight wouldn't be difficult at all... but without them, he was left with only his martial arts skills... of which he was sorely lacking. "All right then... but I must warn you, I've had quite a bit of formal training."

This, of course, was a lie... and the river guardian didn't look the least bit intimidated. He held his ground as Sanza rushed toward him, easily blocking a high kick aimed at the center of his chest. As Sanza struggled to extricate his leg from the bear's grasp, the river guardian shoved him roughly to the ground, then leapt into the air, outstretching his arms and preparing to land right on Sanza's back.

"_If he comes down on me, it's over!" _thought Sanza, rolling out of the way just in time to avoid the bear as he came down. The river guardian landed on his stomach with a thud, and Sanza took advantage, launching several hard kicks into the bear's side as he stood up. _"I have to hurt him as much as possible, or-"_

But Sanza's blows were quickly stopped by another hard shot from the river guardian, who smacked his arm firmly across Sanza's chest as he was getting back to his feet. The blow knocked Sanza back into a nearby tree, and he hit with such force that the wind was temporarily knocked out of him.

The guardian didn't stop, lunging forward and aiming a fierce punch right at Sanza's head. Sanza ducked out of the way, narrowly avoiding the bear's fist as it smashed through the trunk of the tree, creating a large hole that could've easily been in Sanza's face.

"You are quick," said the guardian, watching as Sanza rolled away and got back into a crouching position nearby. "But you lack the strength to overcome my attacks... you will not get past me."

Sanza ached from the numerous hard blows, but he wasn't about to give up... not yet. He'd had worse before, _much _worse... and he could still remember the fierce battles from the previous day... he still had the bruises from those fights all over his body. He narrowed his eyes, looking the river guardian up and down, trying to gauge any weaknesses... but as he was looking, the bear charged toward him again, this time on all fours. He struck Sanza in the chest with a fierce headbutt that knocked him flat on his back, then, towering over the young man, he swiped down with his claws, trying to rip the flesh from his opponent's face. Sanza again rolled away, but was still on the ground, and at the moment, unable to get up.

"I'm not going to stop... not until I beat you!" Sanza reared back his feet and struck with a double kick that hit the bear right in the knee... but despite kicking as hard as he can, could cause little in the way of pain to the guardian's thick leg. He kicked again, with similar results. _"Geez... if I had shoes on that probably would've hurt..."_

Frustrated, Sanza tried a third kick... but this time, the guardian was ready, grabbing Sanza by both of his ankles and swinging him around numerous times, making him dizzier and dizzier with every second.

"As light as you are, you are little more than a twig to me," said the bear, before releasing his grip on Sanza's ankles and allowing him to fly outward, straight toward the river. With a loud scream, Sanza braced himself to hit the water... but instead, he slammed into the soft riverbed on his side, rolling a couple of feet before stopping just at the edge of the river. The force of the impact knocked the wind out of him again, and Sanza found himself gasping for breath as the bear came back toward him, casually preparing to strike again.

"_All right... brute force is completely out of the question," _thought Sanza, picking himself up off the ground once more and watching the guardian draw closer and closer_ "I'm faster than him, but not by much... I have to outsmart him..."_

But as surprisingly articulate as the river guardian was, Sanza knew that that might be a challenge as well.

"You should give up," growled the bear, stopping at a distance of about ten feet and staring into the challenger's eyes. "It is clear to me that you lack the skills necessary to advance any further... turn back, and no further harm will come to you."

Upon hearing the river guardian's request, Sanza gave him a smirk... and though inside, he was still very nervous, he tried as best as he could to convey an arrogant confidence that, hopefully, would make his opponent lose focus.

"If you're so sure you're gonna win, why don't you come at me? I'm not about to give up, but it sounds to me like you are... so come at me with everything you have! I'm right here..."

And to punctuate his eagerness, Sanza extended his right arm and motioned with his fingers for the guardian to come at him. The guardian immediately obliged, charging at Sanza and slashing downward with a swift, brutal swipe of his right claw. Sanza began to duck, trying to avoid the attack... but when it was clear that he wouldn't be able to duck quickly enough, he reached up with both hands and grabbed the bear's wrist as firmly as he could. To his surprise, he actually managed to parry the blow... the guardian's claw was still coming down, but not nearly as quickly as before. Using all of his strength, Sanza had actually managed to significantly slow the river guardian's attack.

However, Sanza still lacked the strength to stop it entirely, and the claw was still coming down, right at his face... despite everything he did to try and stop it.

"Unnnngggh... _can't hold onto this... much longer..." _Straining under the sheer force of the river guardian's mighty paw, Sanza realized that even with everything he had, he could only hold back the swipe for only a few more seconds. Then, he observed the bear's stance... its legs far apart, just far enough for Sanza to slide through... and at the same moment that he released his grip on the guardian's wrist, he made his move, going into a legs-first baseball slide between the bear's legs and ending up several feet behind him. He stood up, just as the bear began to turn around, and ran at full speed, his eyes aimed right at the guardian's stomach. _"If this doesn't work, I'm gonna look like a fool...!"_

But it was then that the bear bent over, going into a crouching position and preparing to charge headlong at Sanza. Sanza, unable to stop his charge, knew that in just a moment, his chest would be smashing right into the bear's face, and he'd likely bruise all his ribs... or worse.

Thinking incredibly quickly, Sanza struck with his most powerful punch, his fist landing right on the guardian's nose. The force of the punch knocked back the river guardian just far enough to enable Sanza to stop... and he did, right in front of the bear's teetering frame.

His punch had staggered the mighty bear, who hadn't expected such a powerful blow right to one of the most vulnerable areas on his body. Sanza's right hand was now throbbing with pain, but he knew that the river guardian had gotten the worst of it by far.

"_All those boxing lessons finally paid off...!" _thought Sanza, who watched as the guardian extended both of his arms in an attempt to keep his balance. _"He's about to fall... he can't hit me... now's my chance to finish him off!"_

Sanza took several steps back, then ran toward the bear again, knowing that this time, he wouldn't have to stop. The river guardian finally regained his balance and was able to stand upright, but by then, it was too late, as Sanza had already run halfway up his midsection and had kicked off of his chest. As Sanza leapt back through the air, seemingly floating in place, he gave the guardian a knowing smile, before throwing another punch forward, this one aimed right between the bear's eyes. The punch struck with amazing force, and this knocked the guardian flat on his back and into the river, where he sunk in an instant as Sanza landed gracefully on his feet a few yards from the river's edge.

"_Now my hand _really _hurts..." _thought Sanza, shaking his right hand several times in the air to alleviate some of his pain. _"But I think I just won..."_

A few seconds later, the guardian surfaced from the water, his head poking out from the churning river rapids.

"My goodness, you pack a powerful punch..." the river guardian complimented, looking over to the wooden planks that were jutting out over the sides of the river. As he did, the planks extended to form several new planks, before joining together in the center and combining to form a completed bridge. He then looked back at Sanza with a serious look on his face. "But be warned, the challenges you face will only get more difficult from here... and unless you complete them all, the True Master will not train you."

"Oh, don't worry..." said Sanza, smiling as he walked over to the bridge. "I _will _complete them..."

But as confident as Sanza seemed, the pain in every part of his body reminded him as he crossed the bridge that he'd only narrowly overcome the first challenge... and if the river guardian was right, if it only got tougher from here, that he'd be hard-pressed to meet the challenges that lay ahead.

"_The rest of this day is going to be trouble..." _thought Sanza, ascending the mountain path, which seemed to get steeper and steeper with every step. _"I hope I don't meet anyone tougher than that guy..."_

O-O-O

Halfway across the world, in the humble confines of the Salazars' apartment, Maria was busily making supper for herself and her daughter... for the first time in a while, she was only preparing supper for two people. She'd been thinking all day of her son Sanza, wondering how hard he must be working... working to get stronger, working to protect the people he loved...

"_Sanza... you've only been gone twelve hours and I already miss you so much..."_

Maria barely had time to dwell on her sadness before she heard a knock at the door. She walked over and opened it up... and there in her doorway was the bright, smiling face of Terra, her blue eyes beaming.

"Mrs. Salazar, I just came to see how you and Maddy were doing... most of the Titans are busy trying to find out where Slade is, I got really bored so I came over here. May I come in?"

"Sure, sweetie... I'm just about to make supper, you can stay if you like..."

Maria would be making supper for three people after all.

"Oh... I don't want to impose, I just-"

"It's all right, I usually make dinner for three anyway... I don't mind making extra for you, especially after all you've done for Sanza already."

The smiling Maria wasn't going to take no for an answer... she didn't mind feeding Terra at all, and after seeing that she really wasn't going to be a burden, the blonde was only happy to oblige. She enjoyed Maria's cooking, and eating supper would give her even more of a chance to get to know Sanza's mother and sister, who were two of the kindest people she'd ever met.

Still smiling, Terra strolled over to the kitchen table and took a seat, striking up a conversation with Maria as she began preparing what appeared to be a cheese casserole.

"So... you miss Sanza too?"

"Yes... yes, I do," Maria replied. "I'll miss him every day he's gone... I just hope he's doing well, wherever he is."

"Yeah... I mean, I have the Titans to hang out with, but... this is the first day I've spent without Sanza in a while, so..." Terra glanced down at the table, drumming her fingers briefly on the wood before placing her hands neatly in her lap and looking back over at Maria. "What's for supper?"

"It's a cheese casserole, I'm using some exotic spices to give it a bit of a kick... you don't mind spicy food, do you?"

"No, I don't mind any food, really..." said Terra, blushing slightly. Maria looked over at her, noticing Terra's thin, frail limbs and giving her a skeptical smirk.

"It looks to me like you mind pretty much everything..." Maria replied, "you're as skinny as a rail... you're not doing anything like throwing up, are you?"

Maria's motherly concern was only natural, but Terra was quick to shake her head, having been asked that question by many others who couldn't quite reconcile Terra's eating habits with her incredibly skinny frame.

"I've done a lot of running..." said Terra, briefly recalling her nomadic past. Even though she wasn't running anymore, her training with the Titans kept her constantly on her toes, and that, combined with her rather quick metabolism, led to her being so incredibly skinny. "But I can understand the concern."

"I see..." Maria replied, knowing that as a Titan, Terra probably did have to exercise quite a bit... in fact, she'd noticed her own son eating a lot more in times when he was working with the Titans, and knew that he probably had to increase his calorie intake by quite a bit to keep his weight up. "Well, feel free to eat as much as you like... I can just snack on something later."

"Oh... Mrs. Salazar, no, I don't want to..." Terra started to shake her head, but Maria's friendly smile indicated to Terra that she had carte blanche to gorge herself as much as she wanted. _"Wow... she's almost as hospitable as the Teen Titans..."_

"Hmm... while I'm fixing supper, maybe you could go upstairs and play with Maddy. I'm sure she's finished up her homework by now, she'd probably love to see you."

"Okay!" Terra said cheerfully, climbing out of her chair and exiting the kitchen. As she headed up the stairs to Maddy's room, she began thinking about Sanza again... and hoped that spending some quality time with his sister would get her boyfriend out of her mind. _"Sanza, I know you must be training really hard right now... and I really appreciate how hard you're working to get stronger... I just wish I could see you..."_

O-O-O

The midday sun beat down hard on Sanza's back, its warmth penetrating his thick clothing and making his skin hotter and hotter. There was still a slight breeze blowing onto his body, and he welcomed it, sighing as the wind caressed some of the beads of sweat on his face. The path was getting steeper and steeper, and his trek up the mountain had been littered with obstacles, including several rock walls that he'd had to climb, and a field of sharp, jagged rocks that scratched the skin of his feet.

Finally, he reached an area of the mountain where the incline wasn't quite so severe... and it allowed him to take a brief rest, slowing down the pace of his walking and enjoying the brief respite that the flat plateau allowed him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see someone coming his way... and when he turned, he was met with a surprise.

It was Chu-hui, the elderly farmer from earlier, making her way up the mountain path and holding a long stick with two big buckets of water hanging off the sides.

"...how did you...?" Sanza began, wondering just how an elderly woman could have possibly beaten back the bear it had taken nearly everything he had to get past. "Don't tell me, you waited until I beat up that bear, then followed me up here? Wow, I bet it must get really hard during times that no one's coming up the mountain, huh?"

Chu-hui gave Sanza a brief glare, before walking past him. She came to a stop a few steps away from Sanza, turning to glance at him over her shoulder.

"..._now _what do you want?" Sanza groaned, walking up alongside the old woman and giving her an annoyed look.

"You young people, only caring about yourselves... you know _exactly _what I want, I want you to help me carry this water up the mountain."

Sanza stared at Chu-hui for a few moments before breaking out into a series of laughs, his hands clutching tightly at his aching sides.

"Oh... _that's _a laugh, yeah right, like I'd really help you," replied Sanza, taking several steps past the old woman before being stopped by a voice in his head. It was a soft, calm voice, its calmness betraying the authority behind every word. It was the voice of God, and Sanza heard it loud and clear.

"_Sanza, it is your Christian duty to assist this woman in her time of need. Remember, generosity and kindness are the Lord's most blessed virtues."_

Sanza thought for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and continuing down the mountain path. A few steps later, he heard another voice... this time, it was Terra's.

"_Come on, Sanza, help her! Don't be a jerk!"_

"_...I'm not a jerk," _replied Sanza in his head, continuing down the path. _"My back's just sore."_

But a few steps later...

"_Sanza, this is your mother speaking! You go back and help that frail old lady right now, before I give your back something to be sore about! I brought you into this world, and I can damn sure take you out of it!"_

Sanza stopped in his tracks, letting out a sigh and looking back at Chu-hui with a look of solemn deference.

"...all right, I'll carry your stupid buckets. But only for a little while, got it?"

Without a word, Chu-hui walked over to Sanza and deposited the stick holding up the buckets squarely between his shoulders. As soon as she did, Sanza could feel the muscles in his lower back starting to tear... and he let out a scream of agony, falling to his knees and bowing his head. He bit his teeth hard into his lip to stave off another cry of pain, the entire time feeling as if his back was about to explode. He could feel tears starting to make their way to his eyes, and was barely able to hold them back.

"...oh god...!!!" Sanza gasped, unable to even begin to stand up with the crushing weight perched on his shoulders. "How much... do these buckets weigh...?"

Sanza quickly began to wonder if perhaps it wasn't so farfetched for this old lady to have actually beaten the river guardian... after all, she seemed to have no trouble with these buckets.

"If you want, I can take them back," said Chu-hui, a hint of disgust clearly evident in her voice. "I certainly don't want to burden you."

"N...n...no..." Sanza stammered, his back still burning with intense pain as he struggled to make it to his feet. "I... have to... do this...!!"

"You have to, you have to, that's all I ever hear from you," replied the woman, watching as Sanza struggled for nearly half a minute just to begin to pick himself up off of the ground. "You don't have to do _anything_. You make your own path."

The old woman was right, Sanza thought... all his life he'd been making his own path, from the moment he'd stolen the Red X suit to the moment he'd started fighting the Titans... and even now, choosing to climb this mountain, choosing to seek the True Master's training... he didn't have to do any of it, he could go home and lie down in bed for the rest of his life if he wanted to.

But then, Terra's life, along with the lives of the rest of his family, and possibly everyone in the city would be at risk. He didn't have to help protect everyone from Slade, but... he certainly felt like he did.

"I... almost... almost... have it...!!" After nearly another full minute of straining, Sanza finally got himself into a standing position. He allowed himself a brief smile before noticing that the pole holding the buckets of water had begun to slip from his shoulders... and after another loud cry, he leaned to the right as much as he could. The pole began to slip again, this time, in the other direction. _"No... can't let myself spill it, I have to... do this...!!!"_

Finally, after several tense moments, he got the stick steady, and let out a loud sigh of relief. His back still felt as if it was on fire, and though he was biting his lip as hard as he could without drawing blood, he let out another loud scream, and several tears began falling from his eyes, clouding the path ahead.

Standing in front of him, Chu-hui looked into Sanza's tear-filled eyes with a solemn look on her face. The desire was still there... now more than ever.

"_And if he's made it past the Guardian of the River, then maybe, just maybe, he could have a chance... but no matter what happens, he's definitely no Robin."_

When Sanza saw the old woman blocking his path, he narrowed his eyes angrily, not wanting to walk around her with the heavy load over his shoulders.

"What are _you _looking at?" snapped Sanza, which caused Chu-hui to step to the side and let the young man pass.

"_His attitude still needs work, however. Quite a bit of work. Perhaps the next trial will humble him further."_

Holding the heavy buckets over his shoulders, every step was an agonizing one for Sanza, who could only plod on in horror as the incline of the mountain path once again grew steeper and steeper. Several times, he thought of stopping to rest, but he'd worked awfully hard to shoulder the buckets, and the thought of having to pick them up all over again drove any ideas he might've had about resting out of his head.

The path got narrower and narrower, twisting around the mountain as Sanza continued making his way upward. He could sense the air getting thinner, which only added to his agony as he struggled to catch his breath with every single step. Every once in a while, his feet would find their way onto some sharp rock that had been left on the ground, cutting into his skin and causing him to let out a scream... in addition to nearly making him drop his heavy load.

Finally, after several hours of climbing with the buckets on his back, he could see a cave looming off in the distance... and it was then that Chu-hui, who had been walking behind him the entire time, finally offered to take the buckets off of his back. As soon as Sanza had been relieved of the burden, he collapsed to his knees again, all of his limbs tingling as his back throbbed with a dull, constant pain.

"Your second trial awaits," said Chu-hui casually, heading back down the mountain with the buckets as Sanza tried to catch his breath. "I hope you're not scared of the dark."

"...what I'm more scared of..." gasped Sanza, "is having a heart attack after carrying your stupid water for five hours...!"

"Ah yes, it took you much longer than it should have... sunset is rapidly approaching, you should make your way quickly up the rest of the mountain."

And with that, the old woman was gone, leaving Sanza behind to face the trials of the cave alone. As he continued to gasp for breath, Sanza looked up at the sky... he could see the sun dipping lower and lower, and knew that sunset was just a few hours away.

"No more rest..." said Sanza quietly, making it to his feet and stumbling down the rest of the path toward the dark mountain cave. _"At least it'll be nice and cool in here..."_

Sanza entered the cave and began walking cautiously as the light from outside faded, leaving him in near-total darkness. He stumbled about for a few minutes, carefully tracing his hands along the stone walls to make sure that he didn't bump into anything. Soon, he could see a faint light off in the distance, and began making his way toward it, breathing a sigh of relief.

"_Well, that wasn't so hard..." _thought Sanza, as he drew closer and closer to the light. _"Some second trial..."_

But when he got closer, he realized that the light wasn't coming from the other side of the cave... but instead, from a candle that had been placed on the floor... in front of a dead end.

"...what?" Sanza blurted out, his shoulders slumping in dismay as he realized that he wasn't even close to the end of the cave. "You gotta be kidding me, I came all this way just to-"

A faint hissing noise could be heard just behind Sanza's back. He turned around and crouched into a defensive stance, but saw nothing in the distance except for dark shadows... when he turned back toward the candle, he heard the hissing again.

"That almost sounds like a..." This time when Sanza turned around, he could see a pair of eyes piercing through the darkness... followed by the creature those eyes belonged to, an enormous white snake cloaked in a brown cloth garment. "SNAKE!!!"

Horrified, Sanza stumbled back into the wall... knocking over the candle on the way and trapping himself in darkness. He let out a loud scream, pressing himself against the wall as hard as he could as the snake suddenly disappeared from view. He trembled in fear, unable to stop himself from screaming.

"Snake... snake... OH GOD...!!!"

"Sssssstop screaming, you're giving yourself away," hissed the snake, his voice indicating that he was but a few feet away. "I am the Guardian of the Cave, and you are now my prey... unless you can survive!"

The guardian lunged forward at Sanza, who instinctively rolled to the side and allowed the snake's head to sail past him. Not caring that he was in total pitch blackness, Sanza ran forward as fast as he could, trying to put distance between himself and the snake. The enormous beast quickly spun around and slithered after him, and despite its massive size, Sanza could not hear it as it silently but swiftly moved along the floor of the cave.

"_This is NOT good... NOT good! That snake is probably used to total darkness, but not me... if I don't find a way out of here I'm totally screwed!"_

Sanza was unaware that the snake was already totally blind, light or no light... but in the darkness of the cave, that didn't matter, and as Sanza continued to run forward, he suddenly felt something thick and leathery strike him hard in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"You cannot run from me," said the guardian, its long frame beginning to circle around Sanza, blocking him in... though without any light, Sanza was unable to see that, and as he stood up and tried to run again, he found himself smacking into the coiled side of the snake and falling down once more. "Now you are trapped..."

The snake began to curl even tighter around Sanza, and soon, the young man could feel the guardian wrapping around his body, pinning his arms to his sides and his legs together... and trapping him completely.

"Ugh... no... no...!!" His struggles growing increasingly frantic, Sanza tried to pull himself out of the snake's hold... but with his limbs already tired from his trek up the mountain, he could barely put up a fight, and even if he was at full strength, he would've been unable to escape the snake's muscular grasp. _"This isn't good... he's got me totally trapped!"_

The snake's coils crushed Sanza tighter and tighter, while its head reared back, baring its fangs for a powerful strike.

"_C'mon, Sanza, you have to focus... you can't use your eyes, and your ears won't help you much either... but what else is there to use? This snake probably smells bad, but after climbing up the mountain all day, so do I... something else... something else... use your mind... come on... come on..."_

As Sanza closed his eyes and tried to will himself toward a solution, the snake's head lunged forward, baring its fangs right at its victim's neck. Suddenly, something told Sanza to thrust his head forward... and that's what he did, headbutting the snake right in the nose and forcing it to snap its head back. Another headbutt caused the snake to loosen its grip on Sanza, who was able to climb out of its coils and land on the ground a short distance away.

"_Wow... all I had to do was clear my mind and I knew exactly what to do!" _thought Sanza, who couldn't help but be slightly amazed at having found himself a solution. Still, he knew he had a lot of work to do... so he turned toward the snake and stood up, punching it in the side repeatedly, as hard as he could. As the blows impacted the snake's hard, leathery skin, it let out a few painful cries, uncoiling itself and slithering back slightly.

"Not bad..." said the snake, "but you still have yet to defeat me..."

As soon as the guardian had uncoiled itself, it began slithering rapidly around Sanza, much too rapid for him to see, even if he had the benefit of a light. As Sanza looked back and forth, trying to pick out the snake's location in the darkness, it continued to taunt him, its voice echoing in the closed confines of the cave.

"I could strike at any moment... you cannot attack me, you cannot defend from my attacks..."

"...shut up... shut up!" As the snake's taunts grew louder and more frequent, Sanza struggled to keep them out of his head... and the taunts kept coming, bouncing back and forth from wall to wall, all-pervasive, unrelenting...

Finally, Sanza's eyes began to adjust, and he could pick out a shape in the darkness. He lunged for it, only to have it move away...

And then, he could feel a pair of fangs sinking into his right leg. They pulled out just a second later, but the damage had been done. Sanza let out a loud scream, collapsing and trembling in shock.

"_Oh god... the snake just... he just bit me...!!!"_

Sanza could feel something dripping down his leg where he'd been bitten. Was it blood? Was it venom? Or maybe both? A sharp pain began coursing up his leg, his entire lower body began to burn, and for a moment, he felt as if he would vomit. He let out another scream, terrified that the snakebite would prove to be a fatal wound. He sensed something coming at him and rolled out of the way, just in time to avoid another attack... but he still knew that the damage had been done. He started to stand, only causing the burning pain in his legs to get much, much worse... then, he clenched his fists, enraged at the cave guardian for having bitten him.

"You... you BASTARD!!!" Sanza shouted, spinning around and narrowing his eyes into tiny slits... he sensed a moment of motion and rolled to the side again, then turned and lunged, wrapping his arms around whatever he could. As it turned out, he'd gotten both of his arms into the snake's mouth, and before the guardian could shut his jaws, Sanza had locked him in a tight crossface. "No... if I'm gonna die, so are you!"

Wrapping his aching legs around the guardian's neck, he tightened up his arms, putting an immense amount of pressure on the snake's jaw as he brought the beast to the ground, holding on as tightly as he could.

"_Such intensity..." _thought the guardian, his head and neck hurting severely from being placed in such a tight and wrenching hold. _"He is desperate indeed..."_

But try as he might, the guardian couldn't break free... and after ten more seconds in Sanza's crossface, the snake began to gasp, trying to signal its surrender as loudly as it could. Satisfied that his opponent had conceded defeat, Sanza released his hold and rolled off of the guardian's back, lying on the cave floor and gasping violently for breath. His entire body had begun to tingle, no doubt an aftereffect of the snakebite he'd suffered... his right leg was almost entirely numb.

The entire cave suddenly lit up, with candles lining the walls suddenly aflame. The wall that had once been a dead end now became a wide open door, and at the sudden rush of light, both on the outside and from within, Sanza squinted his eyes, letting out a groan and picking himself up from the floor of the cave.

"You may continue down the path..." said the guardian, slithering off before Sanza could inquire about the effects of whatever venom had just been injected into his body. Letting out a loud sigh, Sanza trudged out of the cave, dragging his snakebitten leg behind him.

"_If whatever that was was poisonous, I could drop dead at any time..." _thought Sanza. Every horror story he'd ever heard as a child about people getting bitten by snakes and suffering all kinds of agony before their inevitable deaths began to flood into his mind... but he had to put all of that behind him, had to keep moving forward... his pain and his determination were overriding his fear. _"No... I can't worry about that now... I have to make it up to the summit... before... sunset..."_

O-O-O

The sun dipped lower and lower into the sky, and soon, the sky was no longer blue... but purple... and then red. Sanza had been climbing for nearly two hours after emerging from the cave... his entire body was tingling, and he felt more sick than he'd ever felt in his entire life... he'd thrown up over the side of the mountain twice now, and as he stumbled forward, he soon realized that he probably wasn't going to make it to the top before sunset.

"Oh... no..." Sanza muttered, trudging forward a few more steps before falling to his knees and bowing his head. His arms hung limply at his sides, and on top of that, his legs felt extremely heavy... his entire body was alternating between burning and throbbing, and he was still extremely nauseous. He could see a forest up ahead, hundreds of thick ginkgo trees lining and shrouding the path... but there was no way he would get to it, as tired as he was. _"Maybe if I just rest for a little bit..."_

Straining and groaning, Sanza made it to his feet and stumbled over to a short, lone tree standing just next to a tall cliff face. His legs grew heavier with every step, but after a great deal of effort, he was finally able to drag his weary body to the tree and to sit down against it.

Sitting felt good. Even though the hard tree trunk was pressing right into his back, Sanza could care less. He leaned up against it and looked up into the sky, where the sun was slowly dipping below the horizon.

"_I just... I just need to take a little rest, let the venom pass through my body..." _thought Sanza, smiling euphorically as he stared up into the sky. The tension in his muscles slowly floated away, and his nausea subsided... and soon, he was no longer feeling any pain. He was in a peaceful state now, his breaths coming slow and shallow, his eyes slowly beginning to close. "Feels... so... goooooooood..."

His eyes snapped open, and suddenly, he found himself looking into the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he'd ever seen in his life.

He was gazing right into the face of Terra.

"Sanza, are you okay...? You look hurt..." The girl was crouching down next to him, a look of concern on her face... but Sanza couldn't feel even a bit of pain, and he gave her a smile, reaching up to gently touch her cheek.

"Terra... why'd you come all the way up here? Don't worry... I'm just about to reach the top of the mountain, I'm all right... really, I'm-"

"No, Sanza," said Terra, reaching forward and clamping her hand tightly over his mouth. "Don't lie to me... you're hurt... but I promise, I'm going to make you feel a lot better."

As Terra pulled back her hand, a sensual smile began to form across her face... and before Sanza could stop her, she began slowly removing her clothes... first, her shoes and socks, and then, the denim shorts she was wearing, all of it tossed casually away, much to Sanza's surprised delight.

"...T...Terra... really... you don't have to-"

But Terra wasn't about to listen to Sanza's protests, and soon, she'd removed her shirt as well, tossing it aside with the rest of her clothes and leaving her in only a silky white bra and a thin pair of white panties... she crawled over to Sanza and brushed her hand against his cheek before wrapping her legs around his back and using her leg strength to pull him forward. He craned up his head, looking right into her eyes... which were looking back at his with a lustful glare.

"You want these, don't you, Sanza..." whispered Terra softly, pushing her breasts toward his face as much as she could.

"...y...yeah... I..." Sanza was almost drooling now, his surprise replaced almost completely with desire. "I want... I want them... I want you..."

"Good," said Terra, reaching behind her back to unhook her bra. Slowly, she worked the clip free, lowering the bra and revealing more and more of her breasts to Sanza... until finally, they appeared before him in all their glory... small, yes, but beautiful still, and Sanza couldn't stop staring at them as Terra tossed her bra away. "They're all yours, Sanza... I'm all yours..."

His hands trembling, Sanza slowly reached for Terra's breasts, salivating as he watched her nipples harden right before his eyes. His fingers got closer, closer still, shaking in anticipation, until finally...

Sanza felt a sharp pain right in the center of his forehead, accompanied by a loud cracking noise. Immediately, his view of Terra's naked breasts began to blur, and he could feel two more sharp pains, accompanied by two more cracks.

"WAKE UP!!!"

O-O-O

Chu-hui stood over Sanza, holding her staff high above his head. When she'd found him, his hands had been reaching out from his body, and a stream of drool was coming down the right side of his lips. She'd ignored this just long enough to tear off Sanza's right pant leg and dress his wound with some cloth, but after two minutes of constant drooling, her patience with her prospective pupil was starting to wear thin, and she bashed him several times to get him to regain consciousness.

Sanza opened his eyes and saw not Terra in front of him, but the old woman from before, and she looked extremely angry. That, combined with the sharp pain in his forehead, caused him to let out an angry scream, and he pressed himself against the tree, both hands reaching up to inspect the injured spot.

"You've been sleeping for hours," said Chu-hui, and quickly, Sanza looked past her to the sky. Sure enough, the sun was gone, replaced by the moon... and by pitch blackness.

"I... I... I didn't make it..."

That realization, coupled with the lingering pain in his body, brought on a wave of agony and frustration, and Sanza let out another scream. He tried to stand, only to remember the snakebite from earlier, which caused a tingling pain to course up and down his leg from his thigh down to his ankle.

"No, you didn't make it," said Chu-hui. "The snake's poison causes hallucinations and fatigue... I'm surprised you made it as far up the mountain as you did before succumbing to its effects. But the fact still remains, you didn't make it up the mountain before sunset... and the True Master will not train you."

"...what?!" shouted Sanza, walking over to Chu-hui and pointing his finger in her face. "Now you listen here... I might not be the best martial artist in the world, and I might not be good enough to get to the top before sunset, but I'm still going to get to the top eventually, and once I get there, the True Master has to train me! And if he doesn't, I'll stay up at the top of the mountain until he does!"

Getting this far up the mountain had been the most strenuous ordeal of Sanza's life... he wasn't about to turn back now, especially not because of the words of some old farmer woman. Chu-hui listened to Sanza's words intently, not blinking until he finished his sentence... then, she stepped back and gestured toward the path, barely visible in the dim moonlight.

"It's not that the True Master won't train you... but the path is impossible to see in such thick darkness. You have no chance to reach the top at night, and if you stay here any longer you'll be thrown off the mountain. Either go back down and start over again, or keep going and get lost... either way, you won't make it to the top."

Sanza stared briefly down the obscured path, narrowing his eyes and trying to use the lessons he'd learned battling the cave guardian to pick out the right path. When he could not, he clenched his fists and started down the road anyway... he didn't care what the woman, or anyone else told him... he wouldn't even care if the True Master had told him.

"_I _have _to reach the top of the mountain... I have to find the True Master... I don't care how dark it is, I will get there...!"_

Ignoring his pain and walking forward on determination alone, Sanza made his way into the thick trees, all under the watchful eye of Chu-hui.

"_He doesn't quit... no matter how much he suffers..." _thought the old woman, impressed by Sanza's determination but still turned off by his defiance. _"Even if he does reach the top, he will not be easy to train..."_

O-O-O

Lit only by the moonbeams peeking through the trees, the forest path was even darker than the cave, and the going was extremely slow for Sanza, who had to feel around to make sure he was staying on the path... and that he wasn't going to fall off the side of the mountain.

He kept himself going by thinking of Terra... the hallucination he'd had of her earlier had been so real... but he should've known better. Terra would never throw herself at him like that... maybe Cleo, but never Terra. Sanza's mind had tried to compensate for all the pain in his body by giving him something pleasurable to think about... and it had worked, he did feel a lot better... though that could have just been numbness from all the walking.

"_Just a little bit more, Sanza... come on... you can..."_

Finally, he could feel a clearing in the trees... he looked forward and saw the outline of a building at the end of a path ahead... a building that appeared to be a temple.

"_I've done it... I don't believe it, I've reached the top!!!"_

But the moonlight revealed one final obstacle, an obstacle that caused Sanza's heart to sink to the pit of his stomach. The path was blocked off by a wide canyon in the ground, a canyon filled with bamboo sticks that jutted up from the ground and provided a path, albeit a very difficult one, to the summit. Wearily, Sanza staggered to the edge of the canyon, glancing out across the expansion and wondering just how he was going to make it across all those poles.

"_It would take someone with incredible balance to get across-"_

Just then, Sanza could hear a faint yawn... a yawn emerging from the bottom of the canyon. He looked down and could see nothing, only pitch black darkness concealing all but the very top of the opening from view.

Then, out of the darkness emerged a shape... the silhouette of a monkey, leaping up from the bottom of the canyon and up to the top of one of the poles. He balanced on the pole and stared across the gorge at Sanza, who blinked at him several times, curiously observing the strange creature as it let out another yawn.

"_...at least it's not a _scary _animal this time..." _thought Sanza. _"I bet I can kick this thing's butt in no time."_

The monkey was holding a steaming cup of coffee in its left hand, and before speaking to Sanza, it took a big sip.

"How rude of you!" said the monkey, though its voice came out more cheerful than angry, and it wore a big smile on its face. "Coming up here in the middle of the night... didn't you hear the old woman? You have to climb the mountain before sunset!"

"Yeah, well, I don't like people telling me what to do," said Sanza, placing his hands on his hips. "Are we gonna rumble, or-"

"Hold on, hold on, let me just finish this cup of coffee here... you should sit down, I need to wake up before fighting you! After all, it's been quite some time since someone got all the way here... the last one got up here a lot faster than you did."

"Yeah, I know..." Sanza groaned, letting out a sigh and sitting on the ground, crossing his legs beneath him and resting his hands in his lap. Annoyed with the delay, he was also silently grateful to get another chance to rest... the nighttime trek through the forest had taken a lot of the energy he'd regained by sleeping right back out of him, and the snakebite in his leg was beginning to give him problems again. "So, lemme guess... Guardian of the Sticks, right?"

"Close," said the monkey, before taking another sip of coffee. "Guardian of the Trees. And let me warn you... I may be small, but I'm also very fast. You'll need all of your skills to be able to beat me!"

As the guardian launched into a series of high-pitched laughs, Sanza rose to his feet and began stretching, preparing himself for what he thought would be an easy fight.

"You may be fast, but so am I..." said Sanza, smiling confidently. "So, you gonna come over here now, or..."

"Oh, no, no, no... you have to come to me," said the monkey, laughing again as he leapt back from the pole he was standing on to the one three rows behind him, tossing away his coffee cup and gesturing for Sanza to come forward.

"...what?!" shouted Sanza, extending his arms and shaking his head rapidly. "Uh uh, there's no way I'm coming out there... I've already been bitten by a snake today, I don't want to break every bone in my body..."

"Then I guess your journey ends here!" said the guardian cheerfully, leaping nimbly from pole to pole and making several loud monkey noises. With a loud sigh, Sanza resigned himself to fighting on the poles... and he stepped out onto the first one, immediately losing his balance and falling forward. With a loud scream, he reached out with his hands and grabbed onto the side of a pole on the second row, clinging to it for dear life and attempting to make his way onto the top. "That's the spirit, you've almost got it!"

"_...I thought he'd be badmouthing me by now," _thought Sanza, slowly climbing onto the top of the pole. With a downward thrust, he pushed himself up and managed to balance his feet on two of the poles, swinging from side to side for a moment before righting himself and staring across the expanse at his primate opponent. _"Unless he's just being sarcastic."_

As soon as the tree guardian saw that Sanza had gotten his balance, he began rushing toward him, leaping forward several times before striking out with a swift kick. Taken by surprise, Sanza stood his ground as the guardian's foot slammed into his chest, knocking him backward.

"Ow...!" Sanza shouted, flying back to the edge of the gorge and landing on his back on the solid ground nearby. The kick had been much more forceful than he'd thought, and he clutched his hand to his chest as he stood up, watching as the monkey did a mini-victory dance on the poles where Sanza had just been standing. _"I guess he was coming in so fast that it didn't matter how small he was... but now it's my turn!"_

Recovering quickly, Sanza rushed forward and leaped out into the gorge, striking at the monkey with a kick aimed at its face. The monkey leapt back, and Sanza had to immediately concentrate on his landing, his feet hitting the tops of the two poles. He was barely able to keep his balance, and the guardian took advantage, leaping forward at Sanza with another kick. This time, Sanza was able to duck under it, and as he spun around to face his foe, he grabbed at the monkey's tail... only to have it go upward and hit him right in the chin.

Sanza stepped back, rubbing his chin where the monkey's tail had struck. He then came at the monkey again, but because of his inferior balance, he was only able to move very slowly across the poles... and by the time he was able to launch a punch, the monkey had leapt away, forcing Sanza to try and strike again. This continued several times, before Sanza missed a step, causing him to teeter forward and struggle to keep his balance.

"I see you're having a bit of trouble there!" said the guardian, hopping from pole to pole in Sanza's direction. "Let me help you out!"

Sanza turned in the guardian's direction, still wobbling slightly on the two poles... just in time to receive a kick right to the face. The kick knocked Sanza off his feet and immediately sent him plummeting into the darkness below.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!" Sanza screamed as he went into a freefall, looking up as the moonlight faded and all around him became darkness. Reaching out desperately, he managed to grasp one of the poles with both his hands, slowing his descent only slightly... the bamboo slid against his palms, causing Sanza a painful friction burn, but eventually bringing his fall to a stop just a few feet above the canyon floor... which, while grassy, would still have hurt quite a bit to fall onto from such a dizzying height. _"That was... too close..."_

After catching his breath, Sanza began climbing up the pole, his arms beginning to ache after only a few seconds. He fought back the pain and continued upward, not caring if the Guardian of the Trees was planning a lethal finishing strike as soon as he showed his face... he climbed and climbed, until he could see the light of the moon once more... and eventually, he emerged back into the top of the canyon, looking up to see the guardian sitting on top of the very pole that Sanza was climbing.

"Ah, there you are," said the guardian, smiling as he stomped down at Sanza's head. Sanza quickly leapt back onto an adjacent pole, and after a few seconds of scrambling, managed to get his footing on two poles again. "Shall we continue?"

Sanza happily obliged, kicking out at the monkey's head. The monkey easily dodged the kick, and Sanza was left with his foot balancing on just one pole... a very precarious position for him to be in.

"_Shit... shit..." _As Sanza struggled to get his other foot back onto a pole, the monkey came at him again, repeating the same kick he'd used before to knock Sanza off. Sanza briefly locked eyes with his foe before finding his footing and launching out with a wide, sweeping swat of his left arm.

The smack caught the guardian right in the face, stunning him for a moment and forcing him to regroup by perching on a nearby pole.

"_There's my chance...!"_

Seizing an opportunity, Sanza took a single leap forward, landing his feet on the two poles right next to where the guardian was currently trying to regain his balance. He struck downward with a punch that hit the monkey right in the face, knocking him off the pole and forcing him to grab onto it with his tail. Sanza bent over and leaned forward, wrapping one hand around the guardian's tail and prying him off the pole, while clenching the finger of his other hand into a fist and holding the fist threateningly in front of the guardian's face.

"You keep struggling and you're gonna become my punching bag..." said Sanza, staring right into the monkey's eyes. The guardian looked up at his foe for a moment, while Sanza kept his grip around the monkey's tail tight, nervously hoping that it wouldn't try to break free. _"Please let this work..."_

For a few tense moments, neither Sanza or the Guardian of the Trees said a single word. Then, the monkey began to laugh, flipping itself easily out of Sanza's grip and perching on the pole in front of him, rocking back and forth.

"_Damn... he slipped right out of my-"_

But the guardian had seen enough. Impressed by Sanza's courage and determination, he raised his arm, causing a myriad of bamboo poles to pop up from the ground, making the path to the summit an easy one, even for the least-coordinated of students.

"Ah, you could've punched my lights out if you'd wanted to," said the laughing Guardian, lightly clapping his hands. "You can proceed to the summit."

"...all right then," replied Sanza, walking across the poles all the way to the final ascent. After one of the most grueling days, and nights of his life, he'd finally made it... and on heavy legs, he trudged the remainder of the way, traversing the rest of the distance to the True Master's temple before falling to his knees in front of the door, trembling with both pain and joy. _"I... I did it... I can't believe I...!"_

The door opened, and Sanza looked up, expecting to see a wise old man standing before him, or perhaps a bald monk... but instead, he saw the last person he expected to see, standing right behind the door.

It was Chu-hui, the old woman from earlier... sipping from a cup of tea and staring down at Sanza with an emotionless gaze. Upon seeing the identity of the True Master, Sanza did a double-take, shaking his head and rising to his feet. His eyes widened, and he blinked several times, wondering if he was still hallucinating... and if he was, hoping that Chu-hui would transform into Terra.

That didn't happen. Instead, Chu-hui took another sip from her tea and began to speak.

"So, are you going to come in, or..."

"Wait a second... you're the True Master? Robin said you were a guy... _you _said you were a guy!"

"Typical boy, believing that the only skilled martial artists are male... your surprise is understandable, but at the same time, discouraging. You are not like the others... at least not the others who have made it to the top. You are rude, defiant, and arrogant... why should I allow you to become my pupil?"

Sanza stared at Chu-hui for several moments, a look of surprise still etched on his face. Her words were harsh, but ultimately correct... he'd treated her coldly, rudely, terribly... and though he'd survived the trials, he wouldn't blame her if she decided to send him right back down the mountain.

"...please..." gasped Sanza, bowing his head and showing a rare moment of humility. The journey up the mountain had battered him... and had nearly broken him. Every inch of his body hurt, his vision was hazy, he could barely remain standing... and then, could not remain standing at all, falling to his knees at the True Master's feet. Another tear slipped down the side of his face... one that Chu-hui reached up and brushed away.

"In all my years of martial arts, I have never seen a warrior so determined to receive my training. You were pummeled by the Guardian of the River, and still you rose to defeat him. You strained to carry the heavy burden I placed upon you, but you did not give up, and you carried it as far as I asked you to. You were poisoned by the venom of the Guardian of the Cave, but still managed to defeat him, and even after the sun set, you refused to give up your pilgrimage. You walked the remainder of the path in the dead of night, and though you could not balance nearly as well as the Guardian of the Trees, you were able to muster up enough strength to overcome your disadvantage."

Sanza looked up into Chu-hui's eyes, and though she was still scowling, her tone had softened... finally, it seemed, she was ready to take him on as a pupil.

"You have the desire, but you are severely lacking in skills... skills that I will have to teach you in a very short amount of time. Are you willing to submit yourself completely to my training?"

"...yes," said Sanza, the arrogance burned away from him by the crucible of the True Master's mountain. "I will do everything you say."

"Then rise, young warrior... it is time for your training to begin."

As Sanza stood up, he let out a loud yawn... he felt completely exhausted, despite having just slept a few hours ago.

"Before we start, could I... could I catch a few more hours of sleep?"

"We must begin the training now," said the Chu-hui, gesturing behind Sanza to the lightening sky. "It is morning."

Sanza looked back, and could see the sun just beginning to make its way above the horizon... a new day was dawning.

"...right now?"

"Yes," replied Chu-hui, gesturing for Sanza to follow her into the temple. "I have much to teach you."

And so, a weary Sanza Salazar trudged into the True Master's temple... his climb was over, but his ordeal had only just begun.

O-O-O

Sanza's about to begin his training, but judging from how difficult his climb up the mountain was, he's going to have a lot of work ahead. Will Sanza be able to survive the True Master's rigorous training, or will his journey end before it even begins?


	17. The Cruel Tutelage Of Chu Hui

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Chu-hui's mountain temple was also her home, and as such, it consisted of several rooms... the first room that Sanza saw when he entered the temple was also the room where he'd be spending most of his time, at least while he was under Chu-hui's tutelage. The room was a square dojo, twenty-four feet on all sides, with panels on the walls that slid back to reveal the other rooms in the building: to the left was a small kitchen, where a miniature fire pit had been prepared for the heating of tea and the cooking of food. To the right was a room that was completely empty, it served as both a meditation chamber and as a bedroom for students to sleep in while they were staying at the temple. Finally, the panel at the back of the dojo slid away to reveal another bedroom, this was where Chu-hui slept.

"So," said Sanza, after his new teacher had given him the brief tour of all three rooms, "is it time for breakfast now, or-"

"I told you, your training will begin immediately," Chu-hui replied, escorting Sanza to the middle of the room. "We will have breakfast after your first few lessons."

"_Damn..." _thought Sanza to himself, hoping that breakfast would afford him at least a brief respite from what he knew would be a grueling morning. He was exhausted from climbing up the mountain, exhausted from the trials, his leg was still sore from the snakebite... a litany of physical hardships confronted him, and still, it seemed, he had work to do. "...so, what will my first lesson be, then?"

Chu-hui said nothing at first... instead, she paced around her new student several times, very slowly... her eyes scanning up and down his body, sizing him up for the difficult trials that lay ahead. Several times, she poked him with her staff, generating a brief outburst from Sanza with each jab. Finally, she stopped in front of him, looking up into his eyes as she began to ask him a series of questions.

"You mentioned to me that Robin sent you here... tell me, have you ever fought him before?"

"...well, yes, I have," Sanza replied, a bit nervously... his experiences with fighting Robin were varied and numerous, but nearly every time, the Boy Wonder came out on top.

"Have you ever beaten him before?"

Sanza was again forced to recall his battles with Robin, and he could not remember even a single occasion on which he'd won outright... sure, Robin had sometimes had his friends come to his aid, but still, there were no occasions on which Sanza was a clear winner. And of course, there was one minor detail.

"I've never... fought him like _this_ before," said Sanza, indicating his non-costumed self. "Every time I've battled him and his friends, I've worn a battlesuit... a suit equipped with weapons and gadgets designed specifically to combat the Titans."

"I see," Chu-hui replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, what do you think would happen if you fought Robin as just... you?"

"I'd lose in five seconds," Sanza whispered sheepishly. He bowed his head, and a light blush began to form on his face... as good as he knew he was, he was no match for Robin... even _with _the suit he'd been hard-pressed to beat him, without the suit he was just an average kid, he had some skills but nothing extraordinary like Robin's. "To be honest, I... I don't really know very much about martial arts at all."

Sanza's honesty surprised Chu-hui a bit... from his attitude, she'd gauged that he might be arrogant about his abilities... but it seemed that she was right about the trials of the mountain: Sanza's ordeal had humbled him. Of course, humble or not, the fact that Sanza lacked formal martial-arts training meant that Chu-hui would have to teach him from the ground up... before teaching him any of the advanced skills she'd taught to Robin, she'd have to mold him into a skilled fighter... and apparently, she had only thirteen days to do it.

But first, she had to figure out just how much Sanza knew... and the only way to do that would be to see for herself.

"All right then..." said Chu-hui, her lips curving into a bit of a smile. "Show me some of your moves. You may not know very much about the martial arts, but I'll be the judge of that. Come at me with everything you have."

Sanza blinked for several moments, wondering exactly what Chu-hui meant. Did she want him to try fighting her?

"_She's a martial arts master, I don't have a chance in hell against her!" _thought Sanza, backing off a bit, still blinking quicker than normal. _"Then again... she is an old lady... maybe if I land a punch or two on her, I can impress her! But first..."_

Sanza crouched down into a fighting stance, while Chu-hui stood her ground, not moving even a tiny bit. After a few seconds of mental preparation, Sanza ran at her, charging forward and launching into his best kick. Almost effortlessly, Chu-hui blocked it, raising up her arm and blocking Sanza's foot with the side of her hand. Two more kicks were blocked with equal ease, and when Sanza attempted a fierce chop, the master raised up her arm again and blocked the chop against the side of her wrist.

"You are quick, but your blows waste energy... lots of energy, energy that is lost before I even block the attack," said Chu-hui, lowering her hand as Sanza took a step back. "Try again, and this time, focus... don't resign yourself to defeat before you even begin, make your attack with the knowledge that it will connect and cause pain to your opponent."

Perplexed by Chu-hui's message, Sanza hesitated, wondering how he could possibly know that he'd hurt someone whose skills were massively greater than his. Still nervous as he made his next attack, he launched two more kicks at Chu-hui's head, both of which were blocked by just two fingers of her left hand, fingers that she then used to jab Sanza in the ankle and knock him to the straw-matted floor.

With a cry of both pain and surprise, Sanza rubbed his lower back as soon as he hit the floor, then rubbed his ankle, which tingled in pain from what was seemingly a very light blow.

"_I should've expected that..." _thought Sanza, picking himself up and refocusing for another attack. _"She's really good..."_

"The Guardian of the River tells me that your punches are quite effective," said Chu-hui, her eyes briefly glancing at Sanza's fists before returning her gaze to his face. "Perhaps you should try one of those..."

Sanza did exactly as he told, coming forward at the True Master and striking at her with a right hook aimed just below her cheek... but he never even got close to connecting. In what seemed to Sanza like a single instant, Chu-hui grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him in mid-punch before using his momentum to swing him around. Keeping her hold on Sanza's arm, she got behind his back and twisted it violently, forcing a scream of agony from her student and bringing him instantly to his knees.

Sanza had never felt a pain like that before, not in his entire life... for a few terrible seconds, he thought for sure that he was going to lose his arm... and in the seconds after that, with Chu-hui still keeping a tight, twisting grasp on his wrist, he could feel a horrendous, sharp, burning pain up and down his right arm, from his shoulder all the way down to the tips of his fingers.

"You... broke... my... arm...!!!" Sanza gasped out, involuntary tears streaming down his face.

"I could if I wanted to," replied Chu-hui, "but I assure you that your limb is intact, and as soon as I release it, you'll realize that it's basically unharmed."

And a second later, she did release it, allowing Sanza to collapse face-down to the floor, convulsing in pain. The sharpness that was stabbing into his nerves only moments before subsided almost immediately, but it was replaced by a faint aching sensation, and the mental footprint of the terrible pain still lingered, weighing down on the young man's mind and making it almost impossible for him to rise back to his feet.

"_I've never felt anything like that before... what am I getting myself into here?" _Sanza was shell-shocked, having just felt the most horrific pain he'd ever experienced... and he knew that Chu-hui could do that to him any time she wanted. Everything he thought he knew had just been revealed to be completely false... his meager skills were _nothing_, he'd been effortlessly beaten in just a matter of seconds. "P...please... don't do that again..."

"I apologize," said Chu-hui as Sanza slowly but tentatively returned to a standing position. "I was not aware that you had such a low threshold of pain... clearly we have more work to do than I thought."

The old woman waited until Sanza had caught his breath, all the while noting the fear that was still etched on his face. She wasn't typically that difficult on new students, but she could sense that Sanza's attitude made him a special case... if she was going to teach him everything that he needed to learn in such a short amount of time, she'd have to be incredibly strict.

"I want you to stand on your hands now, and maintain that position until I tell you to stop," instructed Chu-hui, eliciting a sigh and a groan from Sanza as he bent down and tried to balance himself on his hands. The lingering ache in his right arm became even worse as he pressed it firmly against the ground, but after a couple of attempts, he was able to reach the position that had been requested. As soon as he did, Chu-hui flipped up into the air and landed on Sanza, balancing her own two feet on top of his. "Keep it up..."

Sanza let out a gasp as Chu-hui landed on him, nearly losing his balance as the excess weight was placed on his body. The old woman was light, but as precarious a position as Sanza was in, any excess burden exponentially increased the difficulty of maintaining his position... and after a few seconds of straining and grunting, he could no longer keep it up, and he collapsed to the ground, grunting again as Chu-hui landed on his back.

"You lost focus," Chu-hui scolded, rolling off of Sanza and standing up next to him. "Again. Now. And don't fall over this time."

"...I... I can't..." Sanza said, picking himself up from the floor and once again positioning himself in a handstand. "I can... barely support my weight on my arms as it is... with you on top of me, it's-"

But Chu-hui didn't listen, and as soon as Sanza had entered into his second handstand, he could feel the bottom of the woman's sandals on the soles of his feet again, her ninety-pound frame pushing down his arms with muscle-bending force. Sanza let out a single scream, then closed his eyes and tried to block out the pain that was filling his body, trying to focus solely on keeping up the handstand and ignoring the fact that he was holding up the weight of both Chu-hui and himself.

"_Come on, Sanza, you can do this... don't fall over again, just keep yourself steady... think about something else... think about something pleasant..."_

Sweat was now rapidly trickling down Sanza's face, immediately falling to the floor below. The pain in his arms was still terribly excruciating, but he kept focused on his thoughts, and slowly, a smile began forming across his lips.

"_Think about Terra..."_

O-O-O

_It was the third day that Terra had spent in exile from the Titans, and after a long day of classes at Murakami High School, the blonde was sitting across from Sanza at a table in the nearby ice cream parlor. She'd been so engrossed in her conversation that the sundae she'd ordered had melted halfway... but she didn't care._

"_So, I told them... I'm not going to walk all the way to my locker just to get a CD to show them, they're my friends but... I mean, I'm not gonna be late to class, right?" Terra was regaling to Sanza a story about her new friends at the school... and the whole time, Sanza was thinking about how glad he was that Terra had found a couple of friends to replace the ones she'd left behind after departing the Titans. "I ended up giving one of them my locker combination so they could go get it themselves."_

"_That's not too smart," replied Sanza. "If they wanted to-"_

"_I know, I know, they could steal my stuff... it's not like I have very much to steal anyway. Besides, I trust them."_

"_After only two days?"_

"_...yeah," said Terra, brushing back some of the hair away from one of her eyes. "I know, it was pretty dumb, but..."_

_Of course, Terra knew firsthand how dangerous it could be to trust someone too quickly. She herself had taken advantage of the Titans' trust in order to infiltrate the team... and had left them because she couldn't even trust herself. _

"_It's not that dumb... I guess then you'd have to call me dumb, because I trusted you from the moment I met you, Terra."_

_Terra gasped and looked up at Sanza, who was smiling and looking her right in the eyes. She smiled back at him, reaching over and taking his hands gently in hers._

"_...I don't get it, though... first you're thinking it's weird that I trusted people from my school in two days, and now you're telling me you trusted me from the moment we met. What's different about-"_

"_Anyone brave enough to sacrifice herself for the city is someone I know I can trust. We've been through the same things, Terra... Slade came after both of us, we've both been friends and enemies of the Titans... but you've always been my friend, and I just... I just know you'd never hurt me."_

"_Sanza... I..." _

_Touched, Terra leaned forward to kiss Sanza on the lips... only to feel something cold touching both of her elbows. When she looked down, she could see that while she'd been talking to Sanza, both of her elbows had sunk into her melted ice cream. She pulled them out, and both she and Sanza looked at them for a moment as ice cream and melted fudge dripped off of them and back into the bowl._

_Then, both Sanza and Terra began laughing hysterically._

O-O-O

His mind occupied with pleasant memories of Terra, Sanza had been able to push away all his feelings of pain, concentrating solely on the people he was working so hard to protect. But though he'd been able to keep his balance, his arms had begun to bend... and soon, he'd fall over without even noticing.

"Push yourself back up," Chu-hui instructed, still perched on top of Sanza's feet. Sanza quickly snapped back on task, and he managed to straighten out his arms, though at the cost of the pain returning to his limbs. "By the way... you never told me your name."

"...my name...?" Sanza stammered, almost allowing himself to slip again before pushing himself back into place with a groan. "It's... Sanza Salazar."

"I see," said Chu-hui, smiling as Sanza pushed himself back up. "Mine is Chu-hui, but while you are training under me, you will address me only as Master."

"...yes, Master," said Sanza, his arms now trembling rapidly as he was brought entirely back into the moment, and once again, allowed his mind to think of the tremendous pain that his body was in. Soon, it wasn't just his hands that were shaking, but his entire body, and sensing that he was about to fall, Chu-hui hopped off of Sanza's feet. A few seconds later, her student toppled over onto his back with a loud thud. "...ow."

"Well, you lasted twelve minutes that time... a lot better than you did before, but still not nearly good enough. This time, I want you to keep your balance until breakfast. Do not fall even once, do you understand?"

Still lying flat on his back, his breaths coming in slow and shallow, Sanza could barely raise up his arms... the thought of standing on them while balancing Chu-hui's weight was too much for him to bear... but unable to object, he gave a brief nod and slowly got back into position. As soon as Chu-hui was on top of him, he tried blanking his mind completely, not thinking of the pain, not thinking of anything else at all... but thinking of not thinking _was _thinking, and as soon as he realized that, his mind went right back to thinking about pain again... and he nearly fell over.

"Do not give up," admonished Chu-hui. "Do not surrender, not to the pain or to anything else. Concentrate. Focus. The pain you feel is your mind failing to comprehend what is truly important."

"_...what is truly important...?" _thought Sanza, squinting his eyes shut as tightly as he could. _"And let me guess, that's something you're probably going to tell me later, right?"_

Chu-hui didn't say another word, leaving Sanza to his own devices... and to his thoughts, as he struggled with all of his might to maintain his balance. For several minutes, he could have sworn that he was going to fall over... but he never did, and soon, his trembling stopped, and he became entirely steady. He remained in the same position for twelve minutes... then thirty, and then an hour...

And before Sanza knew it, it was time for breakfast.

O-O-O

Breakfast consisted of a hot bowl of sticky rice porridge, cooked over the fire pit in the small 'kitchen' of the temple. For Sanza, who hadn't had a bite to eat in 24 hours, the porridge was a godsend... as bland as it was, he was glad just to have something to eat, and he finished the bowl in just a few minutes.

"Well, no wonder you were having such a difficult time supporting my weight," said Chu-hui, smiling as she slowly ate from her own bowl of porridge. "You were hungry. I'm sure now that you're all full, you'll be able to complete the next task with very little trouble at all."

Sanza set down his empty bowl and looked across the fire pit at Chu-hui, wondering exactly what she meant by 'next task'. After all, his arms were nearly numb from the last task, and his legs weren't faring so well either. Still, he said nothing, knowing that his objections would either be met with a harsh rebuke or simply no answer at all. Chu-hui could tell from the look in Sanza's eyes that he was curious, and still smiling, she stood up and walked over to the wall, picking up two wooden buckets that had been placed on a table nearby. She took the buckets over to Sanza and set them down in front of him, prompting even more curiosity from her perpetually exhausted pupil.

"Follow me," she said.

O-O-O

A few minutes later, Sanza and Chu-hui were standing beside a large stone well that was just outside the temple. Sanza had filled up both buckets with water, and was now holding them both, one in each hand, which was starting to become rather difficult.

"So... that was it...? I just had to fill up these buckets?"

Saying nothing, Chu-hui picked up her wooden staff and slid it underneath the handles of both buckets, joining them together. As soon as she did, Sanza could see _exactly _what his next task was... and a look of dread quickly crossed his face.

"That was a small part of it, yes," said Chu-hui, pointing toward the path leading down from the summit of the mountain. "Now carry these buckets down past the tree-filled gorge and the forest beyond, all the way down to the mouth of the serpent's cave. Then return to the summit. Do that five times."

Sanza couldn't believe what he was hearing. His mouth slowly dropped open, prompting Chu-hui to put her hand beneath his chin and lightly push his jaw back up.

"It's not healthy to leave your mouth open like that, you'll swallow a bug. Now get going. After you've come down and back up twice, we'll take a break for lunch, and after you finish, we'll have dinner."

Grudgingly, Sanza placed the staff holding the buckets up between his shoulders and began to slowly walk down the mountain path. After his first few steps, he could feel a stabbing pain in the center of his lower back... and heard Chu-hui speaking to him again.

"I want you to finish this up before sunset, and there's no way you're going to be able to do that if you're moving as slow as you did yesterday. You're going to have to run."

With a weary cry, Sanza lurched forward, almost falling on his face before managing to steady himself so that he remained on his feet. It was torturous agony just to _walk _with the buckets... running with them would be absolute hell.

"_She's just trying to toughen me up, I'm sure... since I bet she's got a lot worse than this in store for me later... but... running? Running up and down the mountain five times...? Even without these buckets that would be tough, but with them... oh God..."_

Steeling himself and trying to focus on anything besides the pain, Sanza broke out into as quick of a run as he could with the buckets on his back... which turned out to be more of a jog, and even then, he could feel himself losing his balance almost immediately. He steadied himself, slowed down, tried again... and this time, he was able to keep a quick, steady pace, running down the mountain path with the buckets rocking gently back and forth. The worst of the pain was definitely in his back and in his legs, but he managed to block it out, and soon, he lost sight of Chu-hui and her temple, and was continuing down the path as quickly as his legs could take him.

"_This is going to get a lot harder the second and third time, I'm sure... I can't even imagine making it to the fourth and fifth..."_

O-O-O

But nearly eleven hours later, Sanza was making his fifth and final trip back up the mountain, the two buckets still balanced on his back. He'd made his way through the forest and was about to cross the gorge where the Guardian of the Trees lived. Though the gorge was heavily lined with bamboo poles, and there was little danger of Sanza falling down below, he still considered this by far the toughest part, as he had to dash across the poles, placing all of the pressure on only part of his feet, and all that weight on his back just made it worse.

Eleven hours of jogging had made him completely winded. His heart was beating at an incredible rate, he was drenched with sweat, and his legs and back were in tremendous pain... even he didn't know how he was able to withstand all of that and keep pushing himself. He crossed the gorge for the final time, and could feel as he began running down the home stretch that he was giving everything he had... and after this, would have nothing left.

"_Just... a few... hundred... more... feet..." _thought Sanza, dashing up the rocky path with the temple clearly in sight. He could see Chu-hui standing outside, staring him down as he ran up the rest of the way... _"I'm... almost... there...!"_

Finally, he made it to the front steps of the temple. Immediately, he dropped the buckets from his shoulders and collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath as he allowed his muscles to finally relax, ushering in a flood of pain.

"Good work," said Chu-hui, giving Sanza an approving smile as he looked up at her.

"So..." breathed Sanza, giving his teacher a smile of his own. "Is it... time for supper now?"

Immediately, the smile disappeared from Chu-hui's face. She removed the staff from the handles of the buckets that Sanza had just dropped to the ground and hit him in the head, not hard enough to hurt him terribly, but still hard enough to give him a bit of a bruise.

"There's no way I'm letting you back into my temple smelling like that," Chu-hui remarked. "You smell like a wet yak. There's a natural hot spring a few dozen yards behind the temple, get in there and clean yourself off."

Chu-hui then tossed Sanza a set of fresh clothes... a white karate gi with a black belt, much like the one she'd provided to Robin before his journey up the mountain some time ago.

"After you're done, put these on and come inside, I'll have supper ready for you then. After that, you can rest for the night... tomorrow I'll start teaching you some actual moves."

And with that, Chu-hui re-entered the temple, leaving the exhausted and very smelly Sanza outside to take a bath. Letting out a sigh, Sanza took the clothes and stood up, walking around behind the temple and wiping some of the excess sweat from his face.

"_...she's right, I probably do stink after running halfway up and down the mountain all day," _thought Sanza, approaching the hot spring with a bit of surprised excitement. He could see the steam coming up from the waters of the spring as he drew near, and felt the heat coming off of it from ten feet away. He set the clean clothes down on a small wooden table nearby, then began removing his dirty garments, stripping completely before stepping into the spring and dipping slowly down inside. "Whoa...! This is... really... really... hot..."

The heat surprised him as he entered, and he almost jumped back out again, fearing that he would be scalded if he stayed in for more than a few seconds. But not only was the water extremely warm, it also soothed the pain right out of his joints... and once he'd allowed himself to sink all the way in, he couldn't feel any pain at all, not even a burn from the water.

He sat down against the edge of the spring, his head the only thing sticking out as he soaked for several minutes, letting all of the sweat dissolve from his body, the heat of the water killing any organisms that were clinging to his skin, completely purifying it to the point that he wouldn't even need soap to smell good after he got out. It was incredibly relaxing, perhaps the most relaxing thing he'd ever felt... and adding to his joy was the sense of relief and accomplishment that he felt now that his first day of training was finally over.

"_Only twelve more days to go..." _thought Sanza, looking up into the starry sky as the steam wafted around his body. He missed his mother terribly, and his sister as well... and of course, he missed Terra. _"And you're probably missing me too, aren't you?"_

O-O-O

Terra _was _missing Sanza, though that wasn't why she'd awakened in the middle of the night. She'd had a dream, a dream about Slade... and she wandered downstairs into the main room of the Tower, hoping she'd have someone to talk to when she got there.

Sure enough, she could see a faint light from the hallway as she approached the room... the light was coming from the large television monitor, currently displaying a readout from one of Robin's computer database programs. The Boy Wonder was seated on the couch with a laptop, inputting names and addresses and then ordering the computer to run a search on everything he'd just inputted.

"Robin...?" said Terra quietly, walking over to the couch and resting her arms just above Robin's head, peering over him at the television screen. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out where Slade's going to strike next. Jericho's letter said that Slade would be attacking someone from his past, so I'm running a search on anyone even remotely connected to Slade..."

"I see... got any leads?"

"I've focused a lot of my search on the man known by the name of 'Jackal'. Jackal's dead, but I can find out some of the people who hired him before he was killed... unfortunately, a lot of those people covered their tracks pretty well, so there's a lot of holes."

Terra wasn't as nearly as skilled of a detective as Robin was, so she knew she wouldn't be able to help his search... still, she was eager to have the companionship, and she sat down next to Robin, watching him work while at the same time hoping that he could find Slade. As long as Slade was at large, Terra knew that both she and Sanza were in danger.

"_I know Slade's not going after Sanza right now, but... there's no way to predict _what _Slade's gonna do... and that dream I had seemed so real..."_

As the computer continued to run its search, Robin turned to Terra, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder.

"Terra, are you okay? If there's anything you want to talk to me about..." Robin knew that his lack of communication with Terra had been one of the things that led to her betrayal so long ago... he wouldn't let it happen again. He would give Terra anything she needed, whether it be advice, training, or even just a friendly word. He didn't want her to leave the team again.

"I had a dream... it was about Slade..."

Robin knew exactly how Terra felt. He dreamt about Slade all the time, nearly every day... and his grip on Terra's shoulder tightened as he tried even harder to comfort her.

"It's all right, Terra, we're not going to let him hurt anyone else. We're going to find him, and we're going to stop him."

"Robin, it's not just that... Sanza was in my dream too, Slade was hurting Sanza!" Terra's eyes grew wide and fearful as she remembered more of her dream in vivid detail. "I know Sanza's supposed to be safe in China, but..."

Terra let out a long sigh, bowing her head and trying to calm herself down. Maybe she _did _miss Sanza, maybe that's why he was being attacked by Slade in her dream... maybe if she stopped missing him so much, her nightmares would stop too.

Easier said than done.

"Terra, Sanza's safe, you know that... Slade's not looking for anyone in China, he's looking for someone here, and we have to find that person before it's too late."

A computerized beep indicated that Robin's search had finished. He glanced briefly up at the screen, noticing two new results. He then turned back to Terra, placing his hands on both of her shoulders.

"Try to get some rest... we're going to need you and the other Titans in top shape if we have to go looking for Slade tomorrow. All right?"

Terra nodded, getting up from the couch and walking back toward the hallway leading out of the room. Robin was right, Sanza wasn't in any danger... except maybe if he disrespected his teacher, which she knew Sanza was likely to do. She allowed herself a giggle, thinking of some little old man hitting her boyfriend on the head with a cane... but as soon as she'd finished laughing, she knew she'd made herself sad.

"_Even if Sanza's safe, I still miss him... I can't wait until I get to see him again."_

O-O-O

After several hours of peaceful sleep, Sanza awoke at the crack of dawn to the sound of dawn to the sound of Chu-hui telling him to get out of bed. As tired as he was, even the straw floor was a comfortable resting place, and at first, he didn't want to get up, pulling the thin white cloth that he'd been given to use as a blanket tightly around himself to conceal his face from view. Of course, this only bought him a few more seconds, as his teacher yanked the blanket away immediately afterward.

"Come on now, I thought you'd be eager to learn some new moves today. You do want to get as good as Robin, don't you?"

"...you could train me for five years and I'd never be that good," mumbled Sanza, standing up and following his teacher into the dojo.

"True," Chu-hui replied, "but I can make you good enough so that once you put that suit of yours back on, you just might be able to best him. But even that will take lots of work, so let's get started."

Chu-hui walked over to one of the walls and pulled down two long, wooden poles. One she kept for herself, and the other she tossed to Sanza, who was now clad in the clean white outfit he'd been given to wear the previous night.

"Once we're done with this," said Chu-hui, "I'll make breakfast, and you'll be washing the clothes you were in yesterday. I hope you won't be too tired to do that."

At the moment, Sanza wasn't too tired to do anything... an hour of soaking in the hot springs, followed by a nice meal and a good night's sleep, had rejuvenated him. He normally wasn't a morning person, but as soon as he caught the staff in his hands, he felt ready to fight.

"It's good to see you're ready," Chu-hui commented. She stood across the room from Sanza, staring into his eyes as he twirled his staff in his right hand a few times. "Let's begin."

"_I think she wants me to come at her," _thought Sanza, crouching down before charging at Chu-hui as quickly as he could. He swung the staff down at her head, and of course, she was able to block it easily, holding up her own staff with both hands and keeping Sanza's attack well away from her body.

"I knew exactly where you would attack... you have to have the element of surprise, and now I'm going to teach you a technique that will give you exactly that."

Chu-hui gestured for Sanza to take a few steps back. Once he did, she swung her staff down at his legs, a quick swipe that he was able to block with only a bit of difficulty. As soon as Sanza blocked, Chu-hui immediately swung her staff upward, its tip aimed right at Sanza's throat, giving him no time to block or react. In an instant, her staff was half an inch away from his neck... if she'd wanted to, she could've swung it right into Sanza's chin.

"Caught you off-guard, didn't it? The first attack was merely a distraction, the real attack happens immediately after. Someone as quick as you should be able to do this easily," said Chu-hui, withdrawing the staff from Sanza's throat and placing it back at her side. "So, now it's your turn."

Sanza nodded, attempting to replicate the attack as best he could. He swung the staff down at Chu-hui's legs, and when she blocked it, swung back up to her chin... only to have her block that attack with the side of her hand.

"Of course," she said, "when your opponent knows the second attack is coming, they'll be able to stop it as well."

"_As quick as _she _is, she probably could've stopped it even if she wasn't expecting it..." _thought Sanza, backing off and twirling the staff around in front of his body. "Anything else?"

This time, it was Chu-hui who made the first move, charging at Sanza and somersaulting into the air, bringing her staff down as she vaulted back around. Sanza raised his own staff to block the blow, only to have Chu-hui quickly bring the end of the other side of the staff around and back up, right into Sanza's gut. He doubled over, staggering back and dropping his staff, clutching both hands to his stomach.

"_Wasn't... expecting that at all!" _thought Sanza, desperately trying to catch his breath as Chu-hui watched, shaking her head.

"I could've decimated you by now," Chu-hui stated. "No matter how much it hurts, you can't lose focus, even for a moment... one mistake could be the difference between victory and defeat, but you just made two."

"How... how can I recover from that?" gasped Sanza as soon as he could speak. "You knocked the wind out of me!"

"Don't think about the pain," Chu-hui replied, kicking Sanza's staff back over to him. He picked it up, and she immediately came at him again, striking out with a fierce sweep aimed at Sanza's chest. Sanza blocked the blow, which Chu-hui followed up by bringing the staff down again, hitting Sanza hard in the ankle. Again, Sanza felt a sharp sting as he was hit, but this time, he didn't back down, and when Chu-hui attempted a second follow-up strike, Sanza was able to block with his staff. He then brought the broad side of the staff up at Chu-hui's face, striking with a counterattack that she was barely able to block. "Good! You maintained your poise even after suffering a painful blow. Now you just need to learn how not to suffer any of those blows at all..."

Several more quick strikes came down at Sanza, strikes that he had to struggle to keep up with, and that he was barely able to block. Finally, a strike came down with such force that it both knocked the staff from Sanza's hands and knocked him off his feet. He fell hard in a sitting position, and Chu-hui rushed him, raising her staff high above Sanza's head and preparing to strike a final fierce blow. In desperation, Sanza kicked out with both feet, hitting Chu-hui in the stomach and knocking her back. This delayed her strike just long enough for Sanza to be able to roll out of the way and recover his staff, and he followed up with a few swipes of his own.

"Not bad, not bad..." said Chu-hui, smiling with approval as she blocked each of Sanza's blows. "But right now, your desire is the only thing fueling you... in a fight, you are still no threat."

"Then make me one!" shouted Sanza, raining several more blows down on Chu-hui with his staff.

"_The only person who can make you anything is you, Sanza..." _thought Chu-hui, still easily able to block Sanza's attacks despite the fact that they were coming in quicker than ever before. _"All I can do is show you the path... you are the one who must walk it."_

O-O-O

The staves had been put away, and now, Sanza was standing in the middle of the dojo with Chu-hui, awaiting her next lesson.

"You've already taught yourself quite a bit during your time as this... 'Red X'," said Chu-hui, "though you might not know it. From what you've told me about your martial-arts experience, you're able to do several things that a normal person at your level of teaching would not be able to do. It sounds to me like you've experienced a trial by fire."

Chu-hui was referring to the skills she'd seen Sanza perform during his climb up the mountain, as well as during his weapons training earlier in the day. While not nearly as acrobatic as Robin, the flips and leaps Sanza had demonstrated proved that he'd reached a level of proficiency much more advanced than a normal fourth-degree blackbelt in karate... many of the skills that Sanza already had he'd had to teach himself.

"This will make it a bit easier for me, since some of your skills I will be able to refine rather than just teaching you from scratch," said Chu-hui. "Turn around and face the wall."

"...yes, master," said Sanza, turning his back to Chu-hui and looking over at the wall about ten feet away. _"I hope she's not going to kick me in the back..."_

But Chu-hui had something else in mind. Having seen the move that Sanza had used to defeat the Guardian of the River, she wanted to know if perhaps she would be able to teach him several similar moves... some advanced wall-running techniques, for example.

"Run at that wall and go up as far as you can, then kick off of it and attack me," said Chu-hui, walking past Sanza and going over to the wall. Once she reached it, she turned around and faced him. "Go around me to the left or to the right, it doesn't matter, just do whatever you think you can."

Sanza nodded, then ran forward to Chu-hui's left and leapt at the wall. Once he hit it, he took a single step up, then kicked off the wallas hard as he could, somersaulting backward and launching a single sweeping kick at Chu-hui's head. She blocked it with her forearm as Sanza was coming down, prompting him to kick once forward at the woman's face. She leapt backward, turning her body so that her sandaled feet made contacted with the wall, then leapt off of it at Sanza's chest as he hit the ground. She thrust her hands forward, tackling her student hard and putting him flat on his back.

"Unngh!" grunted Sanza as he hit the floor with Chu-hui on top of him. "Dammit... what gives?"

The woman rolled off of Sanza's chest, standing up and extending her hand to help him to his feet.

"Moves like that require both speed and balance," Chu-hui stated, pulling Sanza up from the ground. "You have the speed... your balance requires work. Robin's was perfect, that's why he's able to do moves like that with such ease."

"Yeah, but... for me to run even one step up the wall, I've got to get up a full head of steam..." Sanza said, still trying to catch his breath. "You just... jumped back and then went right off it, you did it from a standing position..."

"Because my balance is perfect as well," replied Chu-hui, again going over to the wall and pulling down a single wooden staff. "And now we are going to work on yours."

O-O-O

When Chu-hui had told Sanza that they would be working on his balance, he never imagined himself having to stand on one foot on a wooden pole... but that's exactly what Sanza's teacher had in mind, and after three hours of excruciating trial-and-error, Sanza was finally able to balance himself on the pole like Chu-hui wanted... but it was taking everything he had to stay on.

"You've been up there now for five minutes," said Chu-hui.

"That's good... do I win?!" Sanza shouted, holding out his arms and struggling to keep himself balanced on the pole, lest he fall off and be forced to start all over again. _"Please, please let this be over..."_

"There's no 'winning' involved, but you can come down in five more hours and fifty-five more minutes, provided you stay balanced like that the entire time. Now, I'm going to trust you to stay up there while I go for a little walk. I'll be back in a few hours."

"N...no... please, you can't...!" But before Sanza could protest, his teacher was gone, leaving him precariously balanced in the center of the room. The pole he was perched on continued to wobble, as did he... and once again, he closed his eyes, trying to think of something else and not of the intense pressure being placed on the middle of his right foot. _"Think of Terra, think of Terra, think of Terra..."_

O-O-O

_He thought of Terra balancing on a pole like he was, and falling flat on her face. Next to her was Raven, who was somehow managing to stay on the pole while balancing on the big toe of her left foot. She was deep in meditation, though, observing Sanza's troubles, stopped to look over at him and give him some advice._

"_Just clear your head of everything. If you can't do that, use a chant to focus your thoughts. 'Azarath, metreon, zinthos... azarath, metreon, zinthos...'"_

"_You're not even balancing on the pole," said Sanza angrily. "You're floating and making it look like you're balancing. You're cheating!"_

"_No, she's not, Sanza..." said Terra, standing up and grabbing the pole that Raven was balancing on. "Look!"_

_Terra nonchalantly snatched the pole away from Raven, causing her blue-cloaked friend to fall flat on her face. Within seconds, the two girls were wrestling on the floor, much to Sanza's hysterical amusement._

O-O-O

Of course, as Sanza was laughing, he began to lose his balance on top of the pole, and it began to wobble, as did he... soon, he was in a fight to stay up, desperately trying to keep himself balanced, knowing at any second that he and the pole could both come crashing down, and he would have to start all over.

Miraculously, he was able to save himself, and he breathed a sigh of relief, staring straight ahead while still holding out his arms to keep balanced.

"_That was _way _too close... from now on, I can't let myself think of anything funny. I have to stay focused, this is an important part of my training... don't worry, Terra... soon I'll be able to protect you from Slade, no matter what..."_

The minutes went by, and then the hours... Sanza had a few more close calls, but managed to keep himself steady each and every time... and by the time Chu-hui came back a few hours later, he was still balanced on the pole... he even waved at her as she came in.

"Still up there, I see... you didn't take a break and then climb back up there when you saw me coming in, did you?"

"No," said Sanza, "and I have the mark on my foot to prove it... at least I'm pretty sure I'll have one, after standing up here on this pole my foot is _killing _me..."

"Well, you can come down now," Chu-hui said, "I know it hasn't been quite six hours, but I'd like you to make supper tonight..."

The surprise of his teacher's latest announcement was enough to jolt Sanza completely off balance... and instead of coming down from the pole, he fell down, hard, landing flat on his face.

"W...what does cooking supper have to do with my training?" asked Sanza as he slowly peeled himself up from the ground.

"Nothing," replied Chu-hui, setting down a burlap sack filled with turnips, onions, yams, and various other plants and spices down in front of her pupil. "But I figured it would be nice to be able to take a break from cooking, and now that you're here, well... if you need me, I'll be in my room."

After Chu-hui left, Sanza took the sack into the kitchen and set it down, wondering what he would possibly be able to cook. He had two buckets of water already laid out for him, and there were several pieces of metal cookware lying neatly on the table... with the food that Chu-hui had given him, he had everything he needed to prepare dinner... but had no idea exactly what to make.

"_I guess I could probably do a stir-fry or something... except that I don't have any oil to cook with..." _Sanza let out a sigh, emptying the bag of ingredients out on the table and looking for a cutting implement. He managed to find a small knife inside a trunk that had been slid up against the wall, and he also found a glass bottle filled with a substance he soon realized was vegetable oil. _"There we go, jackpot...!"_

Sanza hated to cook. He wasn't very good at it, everything he knew about it he learned from watching his mother in the kitchen on days when he was bored. As he started a fire in the pit at the center of the room, he began thinking of his mother... and once again, he began to miss her.

He tried not to think about his family when he was training, but now that he had nothing to do, all he could think about was his family... and the familiar aroma of stir-fry almost brought forth tears.

"_Come on, Sanza, you're _way _tougher than this... you can't be getting homesick already, this is only your what, third day?"_

Sanza continued to cook, fighting off homesickness as he mixed the vegetable oil in with the mixture of turnips, onions, and spices that he was stirring in a pan over the open flame. He didn't know how good this meal would be, but he hoped it would at least be palatable, as it would be his only food until morning.

Finally, he could see that the meal was done, as the vegetables in the pan were beginning to show signs that they were getting burned. He found two wooden bowls and poured a serving of the stir-fry into each, placing the bowls on the floor just as Chu-hui re-entered the room.

"Whatever it is that you made, it smells good," Chu-hui said, sitting down next to her bowl and taking her first bite. "Hmm... it's not bad, it's better than rice porridge, that's for sure."

Sanza breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Chu-hui had enjoyed his food... and still wondering if perhaps this was some kind of lesson, or test... if it was, it looked as if he'd passed with flying colors.

Chu-hui finished her bowl of stir fry without a word, about a minute after Sanza had finished his. She then stood up and told Sanza to follow her out of the kitchen... and then out of the temple entirely, leading him outside. In the sky above, Sanza could see the sun beginning to set... and he wondered exactly what Chu-hui had planned for him now.

"Master, it's getting dark... and it's after supper, isn't it almost time for bed?"

"Not even close," said Chu-hui. "You spent three hours getting up onto that pole, and balanced on it for nearly six. We barely got any real training done today, there are still a few moves I want to teach you before we retire for the evening."

Letting out a sigh, Sanza bowed graciously, preparing himself for another hour or two of intense training. What he wasn't prepared for were the next words out of his teacher's mouth.

"We'll go until midnight if we have to... or even later than that. You'll still get up at sunrise, but how long you get to sleep depends entirely on how much you learn from this point on."

"_This is insane..." _thought Sanza, not showing disapproval on his face, but instead, venting some of his frustration by clenching his fists tightly at his sides. _"I'm going to be sore in the morning..."_

O-O-O

By the time the lesson was finished, it was past one. Sanza fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow... and the next thing he knew, it was sunrise, and time to begin yet another day.

This time, he didn't feel refreshed upon waking up. He felt exhausted, but regardless of this fact, Chu-hui pushed him as hard as ever.

"That's it, don't stop, keep kicking!" Chu-hui shouted, holding out a square-shaped piece of padding as Sanza kicked it over and over again, his foot landing on various spots, and occasionally missing the padding entirely. "We're not going to stop until you hit the same spot one hundred times in a row!"

Needless to say, this took quite a while... and one of his next exercises, which involved punching one hundred times at full force in less than a minute took even longer. The first time, he was only able to make eleven full-force punches in a minute... the next, eighteen. Within an hour, he was up to fifty... but that was only half of the required amount, and it took him nearly two hours after that to get up to a hundred.

As the fourth day went on, Chu-hui would teach Sanza singular techniques in-between the grueling repetition trials. Speed was Sanza's strong point, but she didn't focus on that... instead, she wanted to keep improving his power and balance, and though exercises like the speed punching drill did concentrate on improving his best abilities, the True Master spent much more time working with Sanza to improve upon his weaknesses... she wanted to make him as balanced of a fighter as he could be.

Finally, at midnight, Sanza was well into the last trial of the day... with twenty-pound weights tied to his wrists and ankles, he would be forced to fend off a series of attacks from Chu-hui... while both of them were balancing on wooden poles. Chu-hui was able to balance on her pole with ease, but Sanza, burdened by eighty pounds of extra weight, was wobbling from side to side, barely able to stay on top of the pole.

"How's this thing holding me...?" Sanza queried, trying desperately to stay upright. "With these weights on my body there's got to be over two hundred pounds at least on here!"

"Bamboo is a very strong material," Chu-hui replied calmly. "Now, if you're ready to begin..."

Obviously, Chu-hui was going to be holding back... if she fought Sanza with her full abilities she'd knock him off the pole in an instant. She wanted to make this the most challenging trial so far without overwhelming him completely... so she struck with a moderately quick punch. Sanza was able to block by swinging out his arm just in time... though with the weight attached to it, it was significantly more difficult than normal.

The next blow came in more quickly, and Sanza blocked by swinging out his free leg, parrying the punch with his thigh. He started to fall back, caught himself, lurched forward... just in time to see a kick aimed right at his face. He swung up both of his hands, catching the kick and pushing back... then quickly raised up his right arm to block another punch.

"_This is taking everything I have..." _thought Sanza, his arms growing stiff from being moved with so much weight attached to them. _"I don't know how much more of this I can take..."_

Then came another punch, right at Sanza's chest... this he was able to avoid by moving back, but the motion of swinging in that direction began to tip over the pole he was perched on... and he knew that there was no way to avoid the fall.

"_Shit... now what do I do...?!"_

Sanza grabbed onto the top of the pole with both hands, while at the same time leaping into the air as high as he could, and back several inches. He brought the pole up with him, keeping it under his foot while at the same time aiming it downward, pointing its tip right at the ground. Closing his eyes, he braced for what he knew would be a painful impact... and half a second later, he felt it, his foot absorbing the blow as the pole slammed down into the ground with tremendous force. He screamed, thinking at first that he'd broken his foot... and thinking secondly that he was about to fall over anyway.

Two things happened. One, Sanza managed to keep himself balanced and upright on the pole, much to his, and even Chu-hui's amazement. Two, his foot did not break... though his sole now had somewhat of a nasty bruise from where the impact of the blow had been absorbed into his body.

Chu-hui attempted to take advantage of Sanza's shock by punching at him again, but Sanza was ready, reaching out and blocking the blow with one hand, then shoving forward with both, tipping over both Chu-hui and the pole she was perched on. Unable to stop herself, the master fell backward, hitting the ground before she could right herself. Stunned for a moment, she blinked her eyes a few times, then stood up and retaliated, walking over to Sanza's pole and pulling it down. He fell just as she did, though instead of landing on his back, he landed on his face... and was stunned for several seconds longer.

"_I'm really gonna hear it now..." _thought Sanza, groaning as he picked himself up from the ground. He expected to hear an earful from Chu-hui for shoving her over... but instead, all he received was a smirk, albeit a very momentary one.

"I think that will conclude today's training," said Chu-hui, putting the staves away and walking into her bedroom. She closed the door, leaving an exhausted and bruised Sanza alone in the dojo to reflect on the day's events.

He was more than a quarter of the way done now... and though he'd only been training for three days, he knew he'd already learned so much... he could feel that he'd become stronger... and most likely, faster too.

But he still had so much more to learn, so much more if he even wanted to be close to Slade's league... let alone Robin's.

And he still missed his mother... and Maddy... and Terra.

"_All of this, all the work, all the pain... it's for you, Terra... it's so you'll never have to worry about Slade again... I promise, when I come back, I'll stop him for good."_

It was that thought that Sanza focused on as he entered the temple's meditation room... that thought that drove him, and that would continue to drive him through the rest of the True Master's training.

And it was with that thought that he closed his eyes and fell into another exhausted, dreamless sleep.

O-O-O

Sanza's training has just begun... what trials will the True Master put him through next? And will the Titans be able to figure out the identity of Slade's next target? All will be revealed in the next exciting chapter!


	18. Trials Of The Mind's Eye

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Sanza struck out with several powerful kicks, each one quicker than the last, each one either dodged or blocked by Chu-hui, who then leaped back and gestured for Sanza to come forward with a punch.

"Remember what I told you, strike quickly with a single blow, arching your right shoulder forward as you swing your arm. If you twist just right, the blow should be unblockable because your momentum will carry your fist around my arm and into my face."

Sanza nodded, running forward and putting his right foot ahead of his left, twisting his body around and clenching his fist. Chu-hui raised her arm to block, but Sanza's fist glanced past it, continuing forward and smashing into his teacher's cheek. She easily could've dodged it, but she allowed Sanza's punch to come through, and stumbled back once it had connected, rubbing the spot where she'd been hit and smiling.

"That's very good... you're getting stronger."

"Well, I should be... you've had me carrying those buckets around for the last few days," said Sanza, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead and going into a fighting stance. It was his fourth day of training, and his fifth day on the mountain... he'd been sparring with Chu-hui all morning. _"I have to say, I like this a lot better... I finally get to use all the stuff I've learned... and I get some payback for all the stuff she's put me through."_

Sanza ran forward again, kicking twice at Chu-hui's head, once with his left leg and once with his right. She blocked both blows and somersaulted into the air, catapulting herself over Sanza's head and landing behind his back. Before she could strike him from behind, Sanza had managed to turn himself around, blocking Chu-hui's surprise blow by crossing both of his arms in front of his chest. He kicked forward again, only to have his ankle grabbed firmly, and his entire body thrown violently downward, hitting the straw floor of the dojo with enough force to stun him for a couple of seconds. He let out a groan, his body twitching as he climbed back to his feet.

"You left yourself completely vulnerable," stated Chu-hui, kicking Sanza in the back of the leg and knocking him onto his face again. "You cannot concentrate all of your efforts on offense, you cannot use an attack if it leaves you completely open."

"I... I thought... I thought you weren't going to do that," groaned Sanza, rolling over and looking up at his teacher. "You're supposed to be taking it easy on me!"

"I am. If I wasn't, I'd still be swinging you into the ground. But even a novice could've taken advantage of the weak spot you gave me."

Letting out a sigh, Sanza picked himself up again from the ground, hoping this time that Chu-hui would allow him to stand. She did so, waiting until Sanza got back up before resuming the training session.

Sanza's violent meeting with the floor of the dojo was just another reminder of how much he had to learn before he'd be ready to face Slade again... and how much harder the training was sure to become.

O-O-O

Later that day, Sanza was outside again, lying on a padded mat that had been laid out on the rocky ground just outside the temple. He was on his back, and his shirt had been removed... and on his chest was a large, granite slab that had to weigh at least a hundred pounds. It covered him from just below his shoulders to just above his waist, pressing down on his ribs and stomach with immense force.

"What... exactly... is _this _lesson?" Sanza groaned, struggling to breathe with the large weight on his chest. As he looked up, Chu-hui walked over to him, carrying several smooth stones in her arms... each stone weighing anywhere from five to ten pounds. _"I don't like the looks of those stones..."_

"This lesson is all about putting mind over matter," replied Chu-hui, setting the stones down on the ground. "If you use your mind to focus your energy, no harm will come to you. If you are unable to focus..."

She didn't finish the rest of her sentence. Instead, she picked up one of the stones, placing it on the granite slab and eliciting an 'oof!' from Sanza.

"If I'm unable to focus, what? Am I gonna die...!?" Sanza shouted, his eyes widening a bit. He clenched in his stomach, balled his hands into fists, grimaced... and prepared himself for another stone to be placed on the slab. _"Okay, Sanza... don't think about the pain, don't think about dying, don't be afraid..."_

Another stone was placed on the slab, but this time, Sanza didn't make a sound. Instead, he tried pushing all thoughts of the weight out of his mind... tried focusing on something else, like school.

__

"Let's see... I'll think of my history class, my friends are in there and it's fun..." thought Sanza, closing his eyes so that he couldn't watch Chu-hui place a third stone on the slab. _"We studied the Salem Witch Trials last semester... that one guy died when they put a big stone slab on him and... WHY THE HELL DID I THINK ABOUT THAT?!"_

Sanza's inopportune memories came just as Chu-hui piled two more stones, adding more than twelve pounds of weight to the already crushing burden on Sanza's chest. This time, he let out a scream, fearing that his ribs would break under the strain of the weight... for a moment, the fear became uncontrollable. A few seconds later, he managed to calm himself down. He took a deep, labored breath, closing his eyes again and trying to focus all of his energy into his chest.

As more stones were added, the weight was becoming even more intense, and Sanza's situation became even more precarious. The strain was becoming crushing, dangerously so, and without proper mental focus, Sanza knew he would soon be crushed. He took several more breaths, not concentrating on how hard it was getting to take them... he tried to imagine the weight lifting from his body, devoted his entire line of thinking to the belief that he was invincible, that no matter how much weight was placed on him, he'd be able to withstand it.

"You seem very calm," Chu-hui stated, placing yet another stone on top of the slab. By now, there were nearly two dozen stones piled on top of it, making for a total weight on Sanza's chest of two hundred and eighty pounds... more than enough to crush him if he didn't maintain at least some degree of focus. "Are you afraid?"

"..._yes_..." thought Sanza, but only for a moment... he pushed the thought of fear out of his mind, replaced it with one of strength, of confidence... _"I can withstand this... I can protect Terra... I can do anything..."_

"I'm going to sit on the slab now," said Chu-hui, walking over to Sanza and preparing to climb up on the stone slab that was pressing into his chest. "Are you absolutely ready?"

Sanza began to tremble beneath the enormous, crushing weight... sweat ran down his face, trickling onto the padded mat below him... his fists clenched up tighter, he bit into his lip, he could feel tears begin to come... he wasn't ready for this, he wasn't ready for any of it... if he didn't concentrate completely, he could die.

__

"I can do this... I can do this..." He was thinking that he could withstand the addition of Chu-hui's weight... but thinking wasn't good enough. He had to _know_ that he could withstand it, he had to fight off every last semblance of fear... he had to stop thinking of what might happen if he didn't. "...yes, I am ready."

The old woman climbed up onto the slab, sat on top of the smooth stones she'd placed to add additional weight... she sat down, placing her entire body on top of the slab and adding ninety more pounds to the weight already pressing down on her pupil's body.

Sanza could feel the extra weight, could feel the slab crushing down onto him... he winced for a moment, quickly regaining his composure. He took a breath, his stomach did not rise but he could still feel the air entering his lungs... he exhaled, inhaled again.

__

"I'm perfectly fine..." thought Sanza, pushing his fear to the back of his mind, while pushing all of his strength to his chest, pushing up against the weight that was pressing down on his. _"This isn't so bad... this is actually kind of relaxing..."_

He remained like that for nearly a minute, lying perfectly still with nearly four hundred pounds of weight pressing down on his chest. Finally, Chu-hui climbed off of the slab and began removing the small stones she'd piled up on it. Once she had removed them all, she gestured for Sanza to lift the slab up off of his body. Despite its weight, he was able to push it off fairly easily, rolling out from under it and allowing it to fall back down to the ground. He stood up and brushed some rock fragments away from his chest, then took several deep breaths, amazed that he'd been able to complete such a grueling exercise.

"I had so much weight on me, but... I just did what you told me, and it didn't feel like there was anything on me at all!" Sanza said, smiling and looking down at Chu-hui. "I've never felt so strong in my entire life...!"

"Much of your ability to fight comes from your ability to control your thoughts," Chu-hui replied. "Part of what makes your friend Robin such a great fighter and a great leader is that he has total control over every thought in his head. When he is fighting, he is able to concentrate only on what he needs to do in order to win... this is why he was able to learn so many skills so quickly."

"Robin's... not exactly my friend," Sanza said, smirking slightly. "I'd consider him more of a friendly rival... I mean, I don't hate him, but-"

"Do you remember a word of what I've just told you?" Chu-hui scolded, producing her cane and hitting Sanza lightly over the head. "It is perhaps the most important lesson I will give you, and unless you can learn it, I will not be able to teach you what you need to learn during your time here!"

"Yeah, yeah, mind over matter, control my thoughts... I can totally do that," Sanza said, following Chu-hui back to the temple. He picked up his discarded shirt on the way in, putting it back on and tying his black belt neatly in place. "So... what's the next lesson?"

__

"He still does not get it..." Chu-hui thought to herself, pushing open the temple doors and walking inside. Sanza followed her closely, but before he could enter the temple, both of the doors were slammed firmly in his face, knocking him flat on his back.

"OW!" shouted Sanza, rubbing his nose and quickly standing up. He grabbed the handles of the temple doors and tried to open them, but found them securely locked. Failing to get inside, he began pounding on the doors, waiting for Chu-hui to respond. "Hey, let me in...! What did I do wrong?"

"You will remain outside and meditate until you have learned exactly what it is that you need to learn," came Chu-hui's slightly muffled voice from behind the doors. "Until then, you will not be allowed to resume the training."

Sanza stood stunned and speechless for several moments outside the sealed temple doors. He pounded on them several more times, but no response came from within. Frustrated, he kicked the doors angrily... but this only managed to hurt his foot more than it did the door.

"...I told you, I already learned that! Mind over matter! See, I'm thinking right now...!"

Unable to get a response, Sanza let out a quiet growl, turning away from the temple and starting back down the mountain path. The midday sun beat down hard on his body, the heat transferring through his clothes and causing him to sweat even more than he already was.

__

"No way I'm gonna be able to meditate in this heat... I guess I should find some shade or something."

O-O-O

While it was the middle of the day on the True Master's mountain, it was back at Titans Tower... and the moonlight shined brightly on Terra as she walked out onto the roof. She'd been missing Sanza, again... and with no sign of Slade, and the Titans no closer to finding his next intended victim, Terra had had all the time in the world to think about the fact that her boyfriend was gone.

She'd expected to be alone when she stepped out onto the roof... but sitting right in the center of the large, rectangular area was Raven, her legs crossed in front of her, her eyes closed... she was deep in meditation, and it immediately occurred to Terra that the half-demoness didn't want to be disturbed.

__

"I guess I'll just go over to the edge of the roof, I won't bother Raven there..." thought Terra, trying to walk past her friend as quietly as she could. Still, in the quietness of the night, her sneakers made a loud thump every time they hit the cement, and when she walked past Raven, the blue-haired girl opened her left eye, her solitude interrupted.

"...you have a room, you know," said Raven quietly, opening both of her eyes to look at Terra. Terra turned around, a slightly embarrassed look on her face as she looked down at her friend.

"Uh... so do you?" Terra replied, trying to be as friendly as she could.

"My room happens to be on the sidelines of Beast Boy and Cyborg's stankball court," Raven noted, a bit annoyedly. "Why aren't you playing with them?"

Terra rubbed the back of her head with her left hand, her sadness clearly beginning to show. Though Terra's expression said it all, Raven could sense the blonde's emotions just as well... and she quickly realized why Terra had taken a midnight stroll.

"I don't have a teammate," said Terra.

"Neither do I, and I still manage to beat them both pretty much every time we play," Raven replied. "But if you're sad about Sanza, you can think about him in your room just as well as you can think about him out here."

Raven was right, but Terra had a specific reason for wanting to go up to the roof... something about being up there made her cheerful... she had some of her best memories there, especially of Sanza.

"The roof is... kind of special, it's where Sanza and I had our first kiss..." said Terra, blushing slightly. A smile appeared on her face, and she looked away from Raven... though Raven's expression didn't change, she understood completely, seeing in an instant the tender moments that Terra and Sanza had shared on the roof. "But if it's bothering you that I'm out here..."

"He'll be back in nine days, Terra."

"Yeah, but that doesn't keep me from missing him..." Terra bowed her head, frowning for a moment before returning her gaze to Raven, looking right into her eyes. "How would you feel if someone you really cared about went away?"

Raven, of course, had had to deal with the loss of her mother Arella... but that was a permanent loss, Arella would never be coming back. She saw no reason to feel sad for someone who was coming back in nine days. People came, people went... and in Raven's eyes, it was pointless to worry about it.

She could still sense the sadness that Terra was feeling, and her heart went out to the girl who was now one of her best friends. She was glad to see that Terra finally had someone to be with... of course, the fact that it wasn't Beast Boy freed up the changeling to vie for Raven's affection, something that had brought the half-demoness increasing degrees of annoyance over the past week or so.

But if Beast Boy, or any of her friends left for a period of time, she _would _miss them... she'd missed Robin when he'd left to train under the True Master... she couldn't say that she was missing Sanza nearly to that degree.

"Not as bad as you," said Raven, giving a very concise answer after taking a few seconds to sort out her feelings. "If you can be sad quietly, you can stay up here. I'll just have to put forth a bit more effort to block your sad vibes out of my head."

And with that, Raven closed her eyes and began to meditate again... only to have Terra suddenly cry out happily, an idea forming in her head.

"Maybe I can go and stay with Sanza! I know where he is, he's in China on a mountain, he shouldn't be that hard to find..."

"...Terra, from what Robin told me about the True Master, he's likely got Sanza in the middle of some very intense training, training that he wouldn't want you to disturb."

"You're probably right," sighed Terra, walking past Raven toward the roof entrance. _"Of _course _she's right, there's no way the True Master would want me up there on his mountain... Sanza probably wouldn't want me up there either... I guess I'll just wait for him to come back, it's only nine more days..."_

As Terra started to leave, she could feel Raven's hand gently coming to rest on her shoulder. She looked back, seeing her blue-haired friend standing just behind her.

"Terra, if you want to talk to me about anything... when I'm not meditating, anyway... we can talk, all right?"

With a slight smile, Terra nodded, tapping Raven's hand with hers before continuing toward the roof entrance, opening the door and exiting through it. Once Terra had left, Raven sat back down and closed her eyes, continuing her meditation as if Terra had never even been there.

__

"I just hope she doesn't talk as much as Starfire..."

O-O-O

Though he'd found a large tree under which to take shade, Sanza had been having a much rougher time of meditating than Raven was. He'd been seated under the tree for the past three hours, trying to clear away his thoughts enough to be able to concentrate on what the True Master had told him to think about.

Unfortunately, without a clear idea of what that was, he'd been wasting his time, closing his eyes and thinking about a whole lot of nonsense.

__

"All right, I've wasted the whole afternoon on this stupid meditation thing... I have to figure out exactly what Chu-hui wants me to do, and the only way I'm going to be able to do that is to clear my mind! ...maybe I should use a focusing chant, like that Raven girl always does..."

There was one big problem. Sanza had no idea what to use as a focusing chant... using Raven's chant just made him think of her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do when he was trying to clear the thoughts out of his head. He had to go with something he knew, something he'd heard thousands of times in his life.

__

"...what about something in Latin? Like I always hear in church... that might work..."

Clearing his mind of everything else, Sanza began chanting softly to himself in Latin, repeating a single line from one of the songs he used to sing at Mass. He chanted the line over and over again, but this just conjured up memories of church... memories that he had to work to block out of his mind.

__

"Come on, Sanza, don't think of church, don't think of mom, don't think of anything, just focus, focus, focus..."

He continued chanting the line to himself, keeping his legs crossed in front of him, keeping his back straight and his hands in his lap... he could feel a slight breeze rustling past him, he heard the sound of the leaves but he blocked that out as well, focusing only on his chant.

Eventually, he had focused his mind entirely on one singular thought. He had cleared everything else out, cleared out his family, cleared out Terra, cleared out the mountain and the training and the True Master... only one thought of her managed to re-enter his mind, and it was exactly the thought he'd been seeking since the beginning of his meditation.

__

"Mind over matter... if I believe that I will always connect with every attack, always deflect every blow, then it will happen... if I know that I will win, it will become true... that's what she was trying to tell me..."

Sanza stood up and opened his eyes, a proud smile on his face. He stood beneath the leaves of the tree as the wind picked up for a moment, blowing around his clothing and brushing past his hair.

Then, he felt a tremendous pain in his legs.

"...aaaaah! Cramp! Cramp!!" Sanza bent over and rubbed both of his legs fiercely, unable to will the pain out of them with just his mind... he understood the True Master's lesson, but being able to apply it was another thing all together. "How the hell does Raven sit like that all day?"

O-O-O

"Your next task will be to block my attacks without the use of your sight," said Chu-hui, pacing around her pupil, who was kneeling in the middle of the dojo with a black cloth tied over his eyes. "If you truly understand the lesson I sent you out to learn yesterday, this will be the easiest task yet."

Sanza was a bit uneasy about being blindfolded... he still remembered his experience as Madame Rouge's prisoner. Of course, this time, he could reach up and remove his blindfold whenever he wanted... but that wasn't part of the lesson. In order to avoid being hit, he'd have to use his mind's eye to see what his real eyes currently couldn't...

The first blow landed right on his cheek, a powerful kick that knocked him hard to the floor. Sanza let out a cry of pain, rolling onto his back and holding his hand to the side of his face.

"I... I wasn't ready...!"

Chu-hui angrily crossed her arms in front of her chest, waiting for Sanza to recover from the blow. She hadn't expected him to avoid the first of her attacks, but she still thought he would try to dodge at least a little bit... he hadn't used his mind's eye at all.

Sanza got back into his kneeling position, placing his hands in his lap and awaiting the next of Chu-hui's strikes. This time, he thought to himself, he would be ready... he concentrated as much as he could, listening to the air around him, trying to feel the vibrations of anyone moving nearby... and again he took a mighty blow, this time, a punch to the back. He lurched forward, grunting and clenching his teeth.

"How was I supposed to block _that_?" shouted Sanza, making his body upright again. "Put my hands behind my back and-"

"That's _exactly _what you were supposed to do, though I doubt you'd have done it even if you knew you were supposed to."

"This time, I won't let you hit me. I'll block it."

"Then show me," Chu-hui replied, aiming another vicious kick right at Sanza's ribs. This time, he got his arm up, blocking the attack against the side of his arm. "Good!"

__

"I got lucky that time..." thought Sanza, who'd put his arm up at the exact same moment that Chu-hui kicked... not because he could feel her leg coming at him, but because he was guessing. _"Maybe it's better to be lucky than to be good!"_

Sanza put his arm down, smiling proudly to himself... only to be kicked in the ribs, even harder than the kick that landed on his face. Immediately, he was down for the count, groaning, clutching his sides, and rolling on the ground in agony. Chu-hui bowed her head, shaking it back and forth in a show of frustration.

"I have a feeling this is not going to be a good day for you..."

O-O-O

Still blindfolded, Sanza now stood in front of one of the walls of the dojo. About ten feet away, Chu-hui stood with porcelain tiles in her hands. It had been eight hours since the beginning of Sanza's sightless training, and he'd improved quite a bit... but Chu-hui now wanted to find out just how much her student had improved.

With merciless speed, Chu-hui threw the tiles at Sanza, aiming them at his head, his chest, and his legs. Hearing the air rush by as they spun through the air, Sanza was able to pick out the exact locations of the tiles, and punched through two of them, swatting two more away, swinging to the side to avoid another, and leaping to avoid one that came in toward his ankles.

"Is that the best you've got...?" asked Sanza, a smile forming on his face. Responding to her student's challenge, the master threw out ten more tiles, even faster than the first six. Sanza was able to punch through most of them just as easily, but when he tried to dodge the final one, it grazed his cheek, making a small cut before slamming into the padded wall behind him. He took a sharp intake of air as he felt his skin being lacerated, then let out a sigh and gestured for more tiles. _"At least it didn't hit me in the crotch..."_

More tiles came in, a dozen rushing toward Sanza in rapid succession... not discouraged by his slight injury, Sanza smashed or dodged all of the tiles, then got down in a fighting stance as even more were thrown.

__

"This is getting too easy!" Sanza thought, moving his arms and his legs rapidly to punch or kick through every tile that came. He didn't even have to dodge anymore, he was moving quickly and his aim was perfect... and soon, he'd smashed fifty tiles without missing a single one.

But Chu-hui could see the arrogant smile just below her pupil's covered eyes... he was losing focus with every tile he destroyed, his success was building his hubris... the vision in his mind's eye was becoming hazy.

"One more," she said, throwing one final tile right at Sanza's forehead. Confidently, Sanza raised an arm to knock it away, glad to know that the day's trials were just about over.

He was a split-second too late. Just as he brought up his hand, the tile hit him right between the eyes... and his arm dropped immediately. He fell to his knees, then fell face-first to the straw mat below, out like a light.

"All that work, and you still haven't learned a single thing," mused Chu-hui regretfully, kneeling beside her unconscious student and placing a hand on the back of his head. "I don't know why you're worried about Slade... you're still your own worst enemy."

O-O-O

Sanza awoke lying on his back in the room he normally slept in... the blindfold had been removed from his face, replaced by a linen bandage wrapped around his forehead to cover the cut he'd sustained after being hit by the thrown porcelain tile.

Chu-hui was tending to him, placing a wet cloth on top of Sanza's bandaged forehead. She didn't look happy to be playing nurse because of her pupil's failure... she saw that Sanza had awakened, but said nothing, dipping the cloth in a bucket of hot water and continuing to dab at his face.

"I... I thought I hit it," Sanza whispered. "The last thing I remember is raising up my hand... I thought-"

"That's your problem," Chu-hui replied. "You _thought_."

She tossed away the wet cloth and continued looking down into Sanza's eyes, trying to gauge his reaction to her words. A blank stare remained on his face... he still looked bewildered to have been knocked out. He seemed so certain that he was going to complete the lesson... he'd got so excited that he'd completely forgotten how to 'see' the tiles that were being thrown.

"Wait a minute..." replied Sanza, confusion in his voice. "You told me I was supposed to be certain of victory... at the same time you're trying to teach me not to be arrogant. Isn't that like the same thing?"

"There is a difference..." said Chu-hui, "so listen while I tell you exactly what arrogance is. I have taught you to walk the path, walk the path with the knowledge that you have made the right decision. Arrogance is the result of a corruption of that knowledge. Arrogance is what happens when you think so strongly that you know the path that you trick yourself into believing that you know it. When you are arrogant, you are still thinking."

Now Sanza was _really _confused. Every time he was arrogant, he thought it was because he _wasn't _thinking... so he ran headlong into situations that nearly ended up getting him killed. No thought involved there, just reckless action.

"I am teaching you everything you need to know. When you don't listen to me, when you block it out, when you rush ahead, that is when you fail. I did not have time to tell you this on your way up the mountain, but I'm certain Robin must have mentioned it to you. Do you remember what he told you about climbing the mountain?"

In Sanza's aching and weary state, he couldn't quite recall... the pain in his forehead clouded his thoughts and shrouded his memories in mist. He shook his head.

"There is an easy way, and there is a right way. Listening to only a small part of my lessons and trying to fill the rest in yourself... that is the easy way, and that is what you tried to do today."

"Taking a beating from you for eight hours while not being able to see to defend myself is _hardly _easy," Sanza replied indignantly, glaring up at his master. "Yeah, I screwed up once, but that doesn't mean I'm not learning anything!"

Chu-hui stood up and turned away from Sanza. Before she opened the panel to go back into the dojo, she spoke a few more words, words that she sincerely hoped her student would hear.

"You have learned a few nice moves, but until you remember my true lessons, the words I've been speaking to you ever since you came to my mountain, you have learned _nothing_, and you will never be worth anything as a warrior."

She slid open the panel and exited the room, leaving Sanza alone to stare at the ceiling and think about what she'd just told him.

__

"Yeah, well... maybe that's all I came here for, to learn some nice fighting moves so I can go back and kick a lot more butt. I don't need any of your dumb lessons, I've been a great fighter for a long time, and I'm an even better one now, I don't care what you say!"

Sanza continued to lie there on the floor, blinking his eyes as a throbbing pain continued to press down on the center of his head. He began to think again, to think about his family, and Terra, and everything and everyone he missed... and wondering if his six days at the True Master's mountain had all been just a big waste of time.

He closed his eyes... and then he began to cry.

O-O-O

"Goooood morning, team!"

As the Teen Titans sat around the kitchen table, Robin poured each of them a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice, the oranges grown from a grove of trees that Starfire had found just outside the city. The search for Slade continued to be filled with nothing but dead-ends and wild goose chases, but the team wasn't letting that keep their spirits down... and even Robin was smiling as he sat down to enjoy a hearty breakfast with his friends.

"Robin, you seem very cheerful this morning," Starfire commented, happy to see that Robin was happy. "It is wonderful to see you in such a glorious mood, taking into account the fact that our worst enemy is still missing."

"I figured I might have better luck searching for Slade if I kept a positive attitude about it," said Robin, cutting a section away from a stack of pancakes and shoveling it into his mouth. "You taught me that, Starfire."

Starfire's smile grew even wider as Robin mentioned her name. In the chair to Starfire's left, Terra took a big gulp from her glass of orange juice, then dug into her pancakes, a smile on her own face as well. Raven glanced over at her, not used to seeing Terra smile since Sanza had left.

"Let me guess, you've been hanging out with Starfire too?"

"Mmm... yeah, I've been spending a lot of time with Starfire!"

"...Terra, what are you talking about, we have not spoken since the day before yester-" Terra's gloved hand reached over and clamped down over Starfire's mouth before she could finish, eliciting a curious glare from Raven. As Terra gave her a toothy, nervous smile, the blue-cloaked girl shrugged her shoulders and decided to change the subject.

"So, Cyborg... who won that raucous game of stankball you and Beast Boy were playing last night?"

"I'll give you three guesses," said Cyborg, a proud grin on his face. Nearby, Beast Boy was crossing his arms across his chest, scowling angrily.

"...that was _so _not out of bounds, Cy."

"Beast Boy, we went over the rules four times before we started playing! _You _were the one who insisted on the weight room being out of bounds, I don't make the rules, I just enforce 'em."

"Oh yeah? Who died and made _you _referee?"

"You insisted on that too, Mr. 'I'm too lazy to be the ref and one of the players!' I just wanted us to both call our own fouls, but noooooo..."

As Beast Boy and Cyborg began arguing back and forth about their made-up 'sport', Raven looked back over to Terra... who was putting down her stack of pancakes incredibly quickly, even by Terra standards.

__

"Somebody's in a hurry..." thought Raven, raising an eyebrow as Terra began choking on a piece of pancake that she's swallowed too quickly. She watched as Terra turned from red, to purple, to blue, before finally managing to cough up the chunk of half-chewed pancake, sending it flying across the table and landing right on Beast Boy's forehead.

__

That stopped the argument rather quickly, and Beast Boy stared at Terra for a couple of moments, blinking at her before reaching up and peeling the sticky piece of pancake off of his face.

"Uh... sorry?" said Terra nervously, waving her arms up and down in a gesture of apology.

"Duuuuude... that was AWESOME!" shouted Beast Boy, laughing hysterically before shoveling an entire pancake into his mouth and chewing it up quickly, then leaning back and gesturing as if he was going to spit the entire thing at Terra. Horrified by the prospect of the sickest food fight in recorded history, Raven swiftly moved forward, clamping her hand down tightly over Beast Boy's mouth and sealing the chewed-up pancake inside.

"Don't. Even. Start it," said Raven, her voice intensely serious. Behind Raven's hand, Beast Boy swallowed down the pancake with a very audible gulp. The whole time, Terra was laughing almost as much as Beast Boy was... she wiped tears from her eyes, clutching her ribs and giggling furiously.

__

"Oh, Beast Boy... even Sanza could never be as funny as you..." Terra thought, leaning back into her chair and trying to catch her breath after all of that side-splitting laughter. She wiped the last of the tears from her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, still smiling even as she thought of Sanza, whom she hadn't seen in nearly a week. _"I really hope you're doing okay..."_

O-O-O

After a bit of a crisis the previous night, Sanza had recovered somewhat, waking up early in the morning, ready for the next round of Chu-hui's training. The two had started out with a brief staff fight, one which Sanza had been able to hold his own in, repelling most of Chu-hui's attacks and even hitting her with a couple of his own.

From the moment he woke up that day, he set out to show his master that her teachings _were _getting through... that he was listening, though he still wasn't entirely sure if he really wanted to hear what she had to say. This week of training had been different than anything Sanza had expected... he knew that it would be hard, but he thought he'd have mastered at least a few forms of martial arts by now... that by the end of the first week, he'd at least know kung fu.

And while he was faster and stronger than he'd ever been, he still had a feeling in the back of his mind... a feeling that everything Chu-hui had told him the previous night had been completely true. He hadn't really learned a thing... at least nothing that would give him any chance of beating Slade.

"Here," said Chu-hui, placing one of the staves on the rack, while placing two empty buckets on each end of the other staff and placing it on Sanza's back. "Go fetch some water from the well and bring it back here... then I'll start preparing our breakfast."

"Yes, master," replied Sanza, taking the buckets outside to the well. After a week of intense training, retrieving two buckets of water would be no challenge at all... even as heavy as they were once they were filled up. _"Maybe Robin believes in all that dumb stuff, but not me... only reason he's so much better is because he spent so much time with Batman... I bet if I trained with Batman I'd be twice as good as Robin is..."_

Grumbling to himself, Sanza took the buckets back inside the temple with him. Once he'd reached the center of the dojo, he heard the doors slam shut behind him... thinking that it was the True Master, he looked behind his shoulder... but instead of seeing his familiar teacher, he saw a tall man clad all in red... his face covered by a mask, he wore a ninjutsu outfit on his body, and was standing in front of the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

"...who the hell are you?" shouted Sanza in surprise, dropping the buckets and staring at the strange intruder. "And where's the old lady?"

"That is none of your concern," replied the red ninja.

"The only thing you should worry about is yourself..." came a voice from behind Sanza, prompting him to turn around toward its source... it came from a man dressed all in black, wearing an outfit similar to the first intruder's, save for its color. "Because now you're about to die."

The two ninjas both came at Sanza, forcing him to react quickly. He leapt into the air, swinging out his legs and kicking out at his two opponents, catching them both in the chin and knocking them back. This gave Sanza time to reach down and pull the staff away from the handles of the buckets.

__

"I have to find Chu-hui... if they've hurt her..." A wave of concern filled Sanza as he looked back and forth between the ninjas, swinging his staff in circles in an attempt to keep them away. The red ninja leapt into the air, throwing a pair of shurikens right at Sanza's chest. Sanza swung his staff around to interpose, causing the shurikens to get stuck in the wood rather than his flesh. "Nice try..."

But as Sanza was dealing with the red ninja's attack, he didn't see the black ninja dashing toward him. The black ninja leapt into the air, and by the time Sanza turned around to see what was coming, he was struck in the face by a vicious kick that knocked him high up into the air. The staff flew out of his hands, and he continued to fly back until he slammed into the nearest wall, slumping against it and groaning in pain.

Now stunned, Sanza was unable to defend himself as both ninjas regrouped and came straight toward him, leaping at him in unison with their arms extended to punch Sanza in the chest. Sanza closed his eyes, then rolled out of the way, almost instinctively, to avoid the blow. The two attackers stopped just short of the wall, turning toward Sanza again. One of them held out his arms, while the other used his partner's outstretched limbs as a platform, jumping off of them in order to get a large amount of height... then coming down at Sanza with a kick from nearly eight feet in the air.

__

"All right... think about earlier, think about earlier, I was trying to kick Chu-hui, she grabbed my ankle and-"

Unfortunately for Sanza, he didn't have time to think. As his mind was racing for a way to respond, he got kicked right in the forehead... re-opening the bandaged cut he'd sustained a night before. Sanza let out a cry of pain, flying back into the wall and hitting his head extremely hard against it. His vision began to fade, and he could feel blood trickling down the bridge of his nose...

"You're ours now..." was the last thing Sanza heard the black ninja speak before passing out entirely.

O-O-O

When Sanza awoke, he opened his eyes and saw... only blackness. For a brief moment, he thought he was dead... but a few seconds later, when his vision still did not return, and his pain did, he realized he was not only alive, but he was blindfolded as well. He could feel his arms being held high above his head, about eighteen inches apart from one another... they were bound to the ends of a bamboo staff that had been placed on the rack just above his head. The staff itself was secured to its hooks with more rope, keeping both it and Sanza firmly in place. He struggled for a few seconds, only to feel thin rope digging into the skin of his wrists... the sharp pain in them caused him to stop struggling immediately.

"Bastards..." Sanza muttered, his head leaning against the wall behind him. He was in a sitting position, and could feel to his great relief that his legs were untied... but he knew he could only fend off people with kicks for only so long, especially when he couldn't see. _"...wait a minute... Chu-hui... is she here too...?"_

Sanza called out his master's name several times, hearing no response... when he called out her name again, he felt a hand tighten around his throat, cutting him off in mid-shout.

"Shut up!" shouted one of Sanza's captors... the red ninja. "She can't help you now... no one can."

Gritting his teeth angrily, Sanza launched a powerful kick at one of his captors... only to have his kick blocked when the ninja grabbed his ankle, squeezing it tightly before letting it drop back to the ground.

"That's not going to work either," the ninja continued. "Seems to me like you're not worthy of the True Master's training... looks like my partner and I got lucky."

"Your teacher has some very valuable artifacts that we've come to steal..." said the black ninja, standing behind his partner and looking down with contempt at the helpless and trapped Sanza. "And if you don't resist any further, we'll take them and be on our way. I'm sure _someone _will be by to free you eventually... people are always trying to get up this mountain to train with the True Master."

Upon hearing the ninjas' intentions, Sanza began struggling even harder... as scared as he was of what these men might do to him, he didn't want them stealing anything from Chu-hui... and he still believed that she might be alive and in need of his help.

"Wait... a minute...!" shouted Sanza, continuing to tug at his ropes. "Did you two... did you two get up here by completing the trials, or-"

"Of course we did," replied the black ninja. "You completed them, and we defeated you... they weren't difficult for us at all."

Sanza struggled for a few more seconds, but feeling pain in his arms again, he stopped... bowed his head... and cursed himself for being so stupid.

__

"I came here to train so I could avoid being captured... and look what happens to be! I can't get away from it... these guys beat me even faster than Madame Rouge did!"

Sanza could feel fear beginning to well up within him once more... tied up, blindfolded, it was like his ordeal with Madame Rouge all over again... and though the men had told him that he'd be kept alive, he knew that in his helpless state, they could do whatever they wanted to him.

__

"Come on, you're tougher than this, you can get out somehow..." Sanza kicked out a few times, hoping that he would strike one of his captors by chance... but he was kicking nothing but air, and soon, he began to think that perhaps the two ninjas had already left... making good on their promise to leave him helpless and alone in the mountain shrine. _"No... no... this can't be happening!"_

As Sanza started to tremble, he could hear a voice echoing in his head... it was Madame Rouge, taunting him, relishing in his weakness, his helplessness.

__

"Ohhh... poor Sanza, you're trapped once more. I'm sure Terra must think so highly of you... unable to save her, you're nothing. You're pathetic."

"That's... not true...!"Sanza tried to reply back to her, not caring that he was talking to thin air... he lurched forward, clenched his teeth, his anger replacing his fear. "I'm not pathetic...!"

__

"You're pathetic and _a liar. Face it, Sanza, she had to save you, and that's when you were wearing your precious Red X suit. Without it, you're nothing. You're just an ordinary weak little kid... you can't protect Terra from Slade, you can't protect your sister from Mumbo, you can't even protect yourself..."_

In his anger, Sanza was becoming focused... he closed his eyes tightly, but for some reason, he could see... even blindfolded and with his eyes closed, he thought that just for a moment, he could see the outlines of one of the two ninjas...

And he kicked out with both of his feet, as hard as he could.

"Uggggggggggh!" The black ninja staggered back, having been kicked right in the solar plexus... he came forward at Sanza again, only to be hit with a sweeping kick that hit him in the thighs and knocked him to the ground. The red ninja lunged at Sanza with a punch, but he too was caught with a kick, this one hitting him in the chest and throwing him back.

__

"I can hear them... I can feel them... they're still here!" With renewed vigor, Sanza tugged at his bonds... and though he couldn't get his wrists freed from the bamboo pole, he managed to pull with enough force to rip the hooks supporting the pole out of the wall, enabling him to stand. "Yes!"

The red ninja charged Sanza again, but Sanza was able to leap out of the way, somersaulting through the air and landing just behind his foe. He turned around and hit the ninja with a hard kick to the face, stunning him and knocking him back into the wall.

__

"Don't get cocky, Sanza, think, where's the other one..." Still blindfolded, Sanza knew he had to be extremely careful to avoid being hit by the other ninja... but he could sense a bit of movement behind him, and kicked back, hitting the black ninja in the chest and knocking him to the ground again. _"I hope that got him..."_

Sanza took two careful steps back, clearing his mind and gauging the situation... he could sense his two opponents getting up in front of him, and began to realize that perhaps he should work on getting back a bit more of his mobility. He gripped the ends of the bamboo pole that his arms were tied to, bending it back with all of his strength.

He bit into his lip as he worked with all of his strength, knowing how strong the bamboo was and how much energy he'd need to focus in order to break it. He took another step back, his fingers gripping the ends of the pole with such force that he could feel one of his knuckles splitting...

Finally, he could hear a crack... an incredibly loud snapping noise as the bamboo pole spilt right in the middle. Immediately, Sanza thrust his arms forward, swinging down the two ends of the pole and bringing them down on top of his opponents' heads. He couldn't see the two ninjas go down, but he knew as soon as he'd made contact that he'd knocked them out.

__

"That was exciting..." thought Sanza, taking a moment to catch his breath. _"Now I need to find Chu-hui... I just hope she's-"_

"You beat them already?" came a voice from just behind Sanza, one that he immediately recognized... and one that caused him to leap six inches into the air.

"WHOA!" Sanza screamed, turning around and lowering the blindfold from his face. Standing next to him was Chu-hui, calmly sipping from a warm cup of tea in her hand, the panel leading to the kitchen wide open behind her. "You're... alive? You're okay? But-"

"I guess you _have _learned something," said the woman, smiling up at her still-amazed pupil. "At least this first week hasn't been a TOTAL waste... I really wish you hadn't broken one of my poles, now I'll have to make a new one."

Sanza looked at his arms, seeing the two halves of the bamboo pole still secured tightly to them... he untied the halves from his wrists and tossed them away, then looked back down at the ninjas, who had regained consciousness and were groaning on the floor behind him.

"...so those two... aren't really thieves?"

"Oh no," said Chu-hui, "they're former students of mine from a nearby village. They came to my mountain seeking my training so that they could defend their village from a pack of invading ninjas. They took those two costumes from two of their defeated foes."

The two men stood up, brushing themselves off and removing the masks from their faces, revealing identical features, right down to the long black ponytails hanging down from the backs of their heads. Sanza looked at them, then back at Chu-hui, his mouth still wide open in shock.

"We're brothers," said the man in red, smiling and rubbing the large welt he'd received on his forehead when Sanza landed the finishing blow.

"I don't normally take on two students at once, but they insisted," Chu-hui said, "and they both came up the mountain separately."

"I came first," said the man in black, "but my brother and I are identical in fighting ability."

"That's right," replied the man in red, putting his arm around his brother's shoulder. "Chu-hui came to us last night and asked us to come up here and help you in your training..."

"And before you get any ideas, Mr. Thief," Chu-hui said sternly, looking into Sanza's eyes, "There _are _no valuable artifacts here... that pole you broke was probably the most valuable thing I owned."

But at the moment, Sanza wasn't even thinking about stealing anything... he was just glad that everything he'd just been through was only a training exercise. Of course, it was an exercise that had nearly scared him out of his wits, but it was helpful, and it did show Sanza that he'd at least retained a bit of Chu-hui's teachings. He was slightly angry with his master for scaring him like that... but he'd be sure to take it out on her during their training.

__

"Now I know I can fight you even with my hands tied..." thought Sanza, a smile on his face. _"So watch out..."_

O-O-O

The rest of the day had been fairly routine... after the two brothers had left, Sanza sat down to have breakfast, which was whatever was left over from what Chu-hui had already eaten. The two had sparred, and Sanza had learned a few new moves... but as he lay down to sleep that night, his training half-over, he still couldn't help but think that he was nowhere near ready to do battle with Slade.

__

"And I know it's my fault..." Sanza thought. _"Chu-hui is working so hard to help me get better... she... she has a lot of faith in me, that's why she's helping me..."_

But Sanza had to wonder... why _did _she have so much faith in him? He had less martial-arts training than anyone who'd ever come up the mountain... it had taken him twice as much time as the normal person, and he'd disrespected her more times than he could count. What made him so special? He was determined, sure... but so was Robin, and probably even moreso.

__

"Plus, he already had the talent from all that training with Batman... I've got nothing, nothing but some stupid karate and a killer right hook..."

The only other person who'd seen anything like that in Sanza before, besides his family of course, was... Terra.

The one person he was trying to protect, the one he was putting himself through so much for... he kept reminding himself over and over again, every time he felt a pain in his joints, or a twinge of homesickness, he thought of Terra.

__

"I love you so much..."

As Sanza was closing his eyes to go to sleep, he saw a bit of movement near his window... his eyes snapped open, and sure enough, someone was climbing in. He began to let out a scream, but something about the shape of the intruder's body made him stop... the arms, the legs, the eyes illuminated by the moonlight... instantly he recognized her.

__

"TERRA!"

The girl crawled in through Sanza's window and walked over, kneeling beside him and whispering so as not to wake whoever it was that was training him.

"Sanza, I just... I just came to see how you were doing, if you don't want me here, that's fine, but-"

"Terra... I want you here more than anything in the world, I'm so glad to see you!" He sat up and looked into her eyes, a smile on his face, his hands tingling as he raised up his arms to give her a hug. _"Wait a minute... last time I started to fall asleep and I saw Terra, it was just a hallucination... this _has _to be some kind of a dream, it can't be real... no way Terra would come halfway across the world to see me..._

"Sanza... what's wrong?" asked Terra, a look of concern in her eyes. "You look really nervous, are you okay?"

"Terra, I... I think I might be dreaming," Sanza replied sadly. With a giggle, Terra took Sanza's hands in her own.

"Can a dream do this?" asked Terra, leaning forward and kissing Sanza deeply on the lips. After the kiss was over, she backed up slightly... Sanza was smiling, and blushing too.

"Well, actually... yeah, that happened in my dream too..."

Giggling, Terra reached under Sanza's shirt and pinched his stomach as hard as she could. Sanza let out a scream, covering his stomach with both hands and sliding back.

"...I guess I'm not dreaming..."

Suddenly, the panel slid open. Chu-hui stood in the doorway, looking down with contempt at the uninvited newcomer to her mountain shrine.

"How did you get up here?" Chu-hui said, demanding an answer.

"I floated on a rock," Terra replied nervously, blinking her eyes. "I... I'm sorry I showed up without asking, I was just... I was worried about Sanza, and-"

"Please, she won't bother anyone... she just wants to watch, she won't get in our way," Sanza chimed in. He turned to Terra, looking into her eyes and whispering so that Chu-hui couldn't hear. "That's what you wanted, right? To stay here with me? Because I'd love for you to stay..."

"I would too," Terra whispered back, "but-"

"I won't allow it," Chu-hui replied sternly. "Perhaps if you were here to train, but this is a sacred mountain shrine, this is no place for cheerleaders!"

"...cheerleaders?" asked Terra, a look of slight indignance on her face. "I know I'm not supposed to be here, but that's no reason for you to insult me!"

Chu-hui glared at Terra for a few more moments, then she looked over at Sanza, her wrinkled face curling up even more with an annoyed rage.

"Your girlfriend may stay, but she will have to fend for herself... I will not make meals for the both of you."

"I'll cook for her," Sanza quickly replied, his face taking on a pleading expression as he tried to persuade the True Master to allow Terra to stay. Terra watched the whole spectacle with surprise, thinking that Sanza might not want her there... seeing him fight so hard to get Chu-hui to allow her to stay was almost... touching. "Please... she's the one I'm fighting for... it might help to have her around... as a reminder... or..."

"Fine," Chu-hui snorted. "But if she speaks even a single word while we are training-"

"She won't say anything, she won't get in our way..."

Chu-hui slammed the panel shut, leaving Sanza and Terra alone in the meditation room. The two of them looked at one another, surprised and relieved that Chu-hui had actually allowed the geomancer to stay... then, Terra whispered something that she'd been meaning to ask Sanza ever since she saw who the True Master really was.

"That old lady... is the True Master?"

"Yeah..."

Sanza almost expected Terra to break down laughing... but instead, the geomancer gave a different kind of enthusiastic reply.

"Awesome!" said Terra, almost shouting as she raised her fist in the air. "It's nice to see another girl that can kick some butt..."

"Y...yeah," said Sanza, not wanting to let Terra know how surprised _he'd _been to find out the True Master's real gender. _"She might hit me or something..."_

"Well, I'm going to go sleep outside... don't worry, I'm used to it," said Terra, kissing Sanza on the forehead and slipping out the window before he could say anything to protest.

__

"...I guess if she likes sleeping out under the stars... I feel kind of bad for her sleeping outside... I mean, I _could sleep outside... or we could both sleep in here..." _thought Sanza, a brief smile crossing his face.

Lustful thoughts aside, Sanza felt completely rejuvenated by Terra's presence... and while he understood the True Master's concern...

__

"Terra is an awfully beautiful distraction."

Sanza knew that with her around, he would have more strength than ever... an almost limitless supply of strength that he could use to do whatever Chu-hui asked of him, no matter how difficult, no matter how painful. One look into Terra's beautiful blue eyes, and Sanza felt like he could face down anything... even Slade.

__

"With Terra here... there's nothing _that'll stop me from getting as strong as I need to be!"_

O-O-O

And while the unexpected guest may have brightened Sanza's world, he still has a week of training yet to go... and you know it can only get tougher from here. Can Sanza survive, even with Terra around to cheer him on? And will Chu-hui and Terra clash? You know they probably will... Sanza's training continues, next chapter!


	19. Strength Of The Heart

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

Chu-hui had warned Sanza that she wouldn't be making breakfast for the blonde newcomer Terra... but that was all right with him, as he would be preparing breakfast himself. As he prepared a turnip and wheat broth in the kitchen, Terra and Chu-hui sat outside in the dojo, staring at one another without saying a word.

"_Look, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but the least you could do is be civil to me..." _Terra thought, placing her hands in her lap. She knew it would be in her best interests to break the ice... but had very few ideas about what to say. "So, uh... you and Sanza have been getting along well?"

Chu-hui didn't respond at first. She had little patience for people who took the easy way up her mountain... and Terra, who'd floated up on a rock and had superseded the trials, had done just that. Combine that with the fact that Terra did not intend to train... only to watch, not contributing even a bit to the advancement of the martial arts... and it was understandable why Chu-hui was feeling bitter.

"I have pushed him to his limit many times," said the master calmly. "And every time, he has managed to succeed and advance to the next stage of training. I still think that your presence here will harm him... distracting him from the path and leading him to destruction."

"I would never do _anything _to harm Sanza," Terra replied defensively, her eyes narrowing and her fists beginning to clench. "I'm here to support him, here to give him strength..."

"Then stay out of our way," warned Chu-hui, standing up and walking over to the panel in front of the kitchen. She slid it open, peering in on her pupil, who had just finished carving up the last of the turnips. "How's breakfast coming?"

"It'll be done in just a few moments," Sanza said, trying to look past Chu-hui into the dojo... it was clear that he wanted to catch a glimpse of Terra. "You don't like her, do you?"

The tension between girlfriend and master made Sanza very uncomfortable... he knew Terra would try to stay out of any confrontations, but he couldn't say the same for Chu-hui... who had made it clear that if Terra spoke even a single word, there would be hell to pay.

"That is unimportant," said Chu-hui. "The only thing that matters now is the completion of your training."

"Of course," replied Sanza, almost in an emotionless tone. He wanted to tell his master how strong Terra made him... how rejuvenated he felt now that she was here to watch him, now that he no longer had to worry about missing her... but he couldn't bring himself to say the words, and even if he could, he knew Chu-hui probably wasn't going to listen anyway. He returned to his cooking, and the panel slid shut behind him. _"Terra... thank you."_

O-O-O

After breakfast, the first training session of the day began. Chu-hui and Sanza faced off against one another on opposite sides of the dojo, while Terra stood in front of the panel leading into Chu-hui's bedroom, watching in anticipation.

"_Okay, Sanza... let's see just how strong you've become."_

The two ran at one another, and Chu-hui launched a spinning kick that Sanza reached up to block quite easily. A punch was thrown at one of Sanza's knees, but he blocked with his forearm and through his elbow up into Chu-hui's face, striking a glancing blow.

"_Wow... that was so quick, I barely even saw it...!" _thought Terra, immediately noticing a marked increase in speed from Sanza. She resisted the urge to cheer, and instead, she watched as several more blows were thrown by both sides.

"All right, you've learned the three combinations I showed you yesterday... now you'll be learning a fourth, so watch very carefully..." Chu-hui stepped forward, turning slightly to the side and planting the front of her right foot into the ground. Sanza braced himself, but was unable to block the next attack... a barrage of six punches hitting him in the center of the chest, followed up by a palm to the face that knocked Sanza back, temporarily blinding him.

Seeing the severity of the strikes, Terra let out a gasp... she placed her hands over her mouth, stifling any screams she was about to make. Meanwhile, Sanza stumbled forward, shaking his head and letting out a bewildered groan.

"My... my vision, it went hazy... how did you do that?"

"I struck one of your chakras, restricting your body's natural flow of energy. Instinctively, your body drew whatever energy it could into the chakra, diverting it from the closest thing... your eyes."

Chu-hui's explanation of why her final strike had blinded Sanza was a bit confusing... he'd only heard about chakras once before, a very brief explanation from Raven that he'd mostly blown off. Hearing his master speak of them now made Sanza almost wish he'd paid more attention.

But it was too late for that now... and now that the combination had been demonstrated, Sanza knew it was now time to attempt it on Chu-hui. He lunged forward and punched repeatedly down at her, only to have each of his blows blocked effortlessly against her hands. Undaunted, Sanza thrust out his palm for the final, blinding strike... but instead, Chu-hui countered by grabbing his wrist and twisting it back. Sanza let out a single, painful scream before his wrist was released and he was kicked away.

"_...she was supposed to let Sanza hit her, wasn't she?" _thought Terra, recoiling at the sound of Sanza's scream. She almost wanted to protest, but at the last moment, she bit her tongue..._ "Sanza, be careful!"_

"You have to be quick," Chu-hui said, leaping back and gesturing for Sanza to come at her again. This time, instead of just going for the combination from the outset, Sanza hung back for a moment, throwing out a pair of quick kicks. Chu-hui ducked under the first and blocked the second, then lunged forward with a punch aimed at Sanza's stomach.

"_Yes, I do..." _Before Chu-hui's fist could make contact, Sanza grabbed her wrist, stopping her just long enough for him to land the combo, or at least part of it. He punched her twice, then slammed his palm into her forehead. The force of the blow caused her head to snap back, but a second later, she reversed the hold that Sanza had on her wrist, causing him to fall forward and enabling her to perform a leaping tackle, bringing him swiftly to the ground.

"You must strike in exactly the right spot, or the attack will be ineffective," said Chu-hui, rolling off of Sanza and waiting for him to recover from the tackle. Watching nearby, Terra let out a sigh of frustration, then smiled as Sanza quickly managed to pick himself up from the ground. "Care to try again?"

With a quick nod, Sanza went right back on the offensive, rearing back his fist to punch Chu-hui in the face... but before he could, the woman rolled behind him, striking him in the back of the right leg with a brutal swinging kick. His leg buckled instantly, and Sanza let out a loud cry of pain, falling to one knee. Terra gasped in horror, and what she saw next filled her with dread. Chu-hui leapt into the air and wrapped her arms around Sanza's neck, bringing him down and bringing herself up. She slammed her knees into Sanza's back, then leapt off of him, allowing her student's crumpled frame to fall to the ground, twitching in agony.

"HEY!" screamed Terra, no longer able to contain her rage as she watched Sanza sustain what looked to her like a crippling injury. "That was completely uncalled for!"

Terra stormed over to Chu-hui, who held out her arms, blocking the geomancer from reaching Sanza.

"He is not injured," said Chu-hui, "but he let his guard down and I had to show him in the only way that would help him learn."

"You call _that _not injured?" Terra yelled, pointing at Sanza, who continued to languish on the floor. "You broke his back!"

"If I was giving 100, yes, that likely would have broken his back."

Chu-hui's expression then turned much more serious... her eyes narrowed, and she pointed a finger right in Terra's face.

"On the other hand, YOU were told not to interfere! You were told to remain silent, but you did not! You have disobeyed me and you have jeopardized the success of this training session, and now-"

"Wait..." Sanza said, standing up and keeping a hand pressed to his back, which was still sore... he was also favoring his right leg, limping on it as he tried to get between Chu-hui and Terra. "She didn't do anything wrong, she was trying to protect me!"

"Which is _precisely _why I didn't want her here," said Chu-hui, "and if she has another outburst like the one she just had, I will force her to leave."

"You can't force _me _to do anything," said Terra, her hands beginning to glow. "If I wanted to, I could take a boulder from this mountain and squish you like a-"

Terra was instantly silenced when two of Chu-hui's fingers slammed into her throat. The girl let out a gasp and fell to her knees, clutching her throat and trying to speak... only to find that no words were coming out of her mouth. Now, Sanza was the angry one... he grabbed Chu-hui by the shoulder and spun her around, his eyes looking right into hers.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST DO?!" Sanza shouted furiously, his fists clenched, ready to defend his girlfriend's honor even if it killed him. "She can't breathe!"

"She can breathe just fine, but she won't be able to speak for 24 hours," said Chu-hui. "I paralyzed her vocal cords... now she will not interfere in our training. I would've paralyzed them for the rest of the week, but the force of such a strike may have killed her... your next training will begin in five minutes."

As Chu-hui began to leave, Sanza trembled violently, his mind filled with rage. The sight of his beloved Terra on the ground, her eyes filled with fear as she gasped in desperation, made him want to beat his teacher to a pulp... but knowing he'd be unable to do that, he settled for yelling at her some more.

"You know, I bet you were a lot nicer to Robin!"

"Robin was a lot better at martial arts," Chu-hui retorted without even turning around. She slid open the panel to her room and walked inside, leaving Sanza and Terra alone in the middle of the dojo. Immediately, Sanza fell to his knees in front of Terra... she had stopped gasping, but her eyes were still wide... she was no longer angry, and was barely even afraid... instead, she felt an intense sadness, thinking that perhaps she _had _interfered with Sanza's training. Sensing Terra's despair, Sanza tried to wrap his arms around her... but she stopped him, backing off and shaking her head.

"_I'm sorry," _mouthed Terra, tears beginning to well up in the corners of her eyes.

"...you have nothing to apologize for," replied Sanza, who was finally able to embrace Terra, his arms wrapping tightly around her body and caressing her back. "Thank you for standing up for me..."

Still feeling a twinge of guilt, Terra couldn't help but smile at Sanza's reassuring words... and with her voice no longer present, she knew she'd have to keep up that smile for quite some time... it would be the only way she'd be able to encourage him.

O-O-O

For the rest of the day, Terra remained a silent observer as Sanza continued the day's training... every time she saw him get hurt, she tried to remind himself that he'd likely suffered similar events for the entire week... that made her feel a little better, though it also made part of her feel even worse.

"_I should've been here this whole time... I know I have a duty to help the Titans find Slade, but... part of that duty is helping Sanza to get stronger so he can battle Slade with us. ...or maybe that's just something I'm telling myself so I can feel better about leaving the others... it's only for a week..."_

Just before sunset, Sanza was given his final task of the day. He was to perform one-handed push-ups until Chu-hui told him to stop... and she would be standing on his back the entire time.

Having already performed similar feats of strength and endurance over the week, Sanza found the first few push-ups relatively easy... but soon, his right arm, the one that he was using to push himself up, began to get tired and sore... and after about the twentieth repetition, the strain on his body began to get very noticeable. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that Sanza and Chu-hui were outside... Sanza's hand was pressing into the rocky ground, and he could feel the skin in his palm beginning to break as he continued pressing into the stone with all of his might.

Standing nearby, Terra watched Sanza's struggle with increasing discomfort, her hands pressed to her lips. She could see the skin on his right hand beginning to crack and bleed, and she knew that it was mostly a side-effect of him having to push up and down against the hard, rocky ground... ground which she could soften with just a single movement of her finger.

After thinking for only a few seconds, Terra began softening the ground beneath Sanza's hand, liquefying it to the consistency of a gel. Sanza, who had mostly numbed himself after the first twenty repetitions, could barely feel the difference... all he knew is that his right hand didn't hurt nearly as much.

"_At least I've stopped the bleeding..." _thought Terra, keeping a single one of her fingers pointing outward at the ground below Sanza. _"That's it... keep pushing, you'll be fine..."_

After ten more repetitions, Chu-hui looked over at Terra... the old master could feel a slightly different wavelength from the ground below her student's hand, and knew that it was Terra who had softened up the rock.

"You are not helping him by making it easier," said Chu-hui. Terra's eyes widened, and she let out a gasp, surprised that the old woman had figured it out... while Sanza looked over at Terra, giving her his own look of surprise.

"Terra... I can handle this..." Sanza said quietly, pressing his hand into the ground and maintaining his position above it.

"..._but Sanza, I was just..._" Still unable to say anything in her defense, Terra lowered her finger, returning the consistency of the ground to normal. Her head slumped, and she clenched her fists, realizing with a great deal of reluctance that the True Master was right.

Now that the ground had re-hardened, Sanza strained to do any more repetitions... he let himself back down, then pushed up... let himself down again... and with a loud scream of effort, pushed up a final time before collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion. Chu-hui climbed off of Sanza's back, walking over to Terra and giving her a stern rebuke.

"I warned you what would happen if you interfered again," said Chu-hui, looking up into Terra's eyes with intense disdain. "What you did compromised everything Sanza and I have been working for, he will only get better if he gives all of his strength, and by softening the ground, the only thing you accomplished was softening _him_!"

Her head still bowed, Terra was filled with a mixture of emotions... guilt, sadness, and anger... her fists clenched, and she began to shake... she could bring down the whole mountain if she wanted to, she didn't have to listen to anything Chu-hui said.

Still lying on the ground, Sanza lacked the strength to stand. He'd exerted all of his remaining energy on the final exercises, and could only watch as Chu-hui and Terra continued their one-sided conversation.

"If you truly care about him, you will allow him to continue without interference," said Chu-hui, turning away from Terra and heading back to the shrine. Despite her earlier warning, she did not force Terra off of the mountain... instead, she left the girl to decide her own fate, perhaps with input from Sanza, if he could bring himself to get up. _"Her heart is in the right place, but she understands less about being a warrior than Sanza does... her powers have jaded her, she completely lacks understanding."_

After Chu-hui retreated to the shrine, Terra ran over to Sanza. She almost started to reach down to pick him up... but remembering the master's words, she stepped back and watched as Sanza got up on his own. It took him several seconds, but finally, he brought himself to a standing position, holding his back and looking up into Terra's eyes.

"Terra... it's all right, but you know that in order to get better, I have to-"

Terra gave an understanding nod, placing her hand on Sanza's shoulder and gripping it lightly. Smiling, Sanza placed his hand on hers, leaning in and giving Terra a kiss on the forehead.

"Don't worry about what the True Master said. I want you here... I really do..."

Sanza sounded sincere, but Terra wasn't so sure... the last time she'd tried to help, it had only hurt him... and she began to wonder if having to watch her boyfriend suffer for the next few days was really what she wanted to do. She turned slightly away, only to have Sanza reach up and touch her cheek.

"I'm going to go back into the shrine... promise me you'll stay on the mountain."

Terra looked back up at Sanza, her wide eyes accompanied by an unsure frown.

"Promise me, Terra..."

Before Terra could nod, Sanza kissed her on the lips... the kiss lasted for several seconds, and by the time Sanza pulled away, he knew that Terra would remain with him, no matter how much the True Master wanted her to leave.

"Thank you."

And with that, Sanza turned and re-entered the shrine, leaving Terra outside to sleep under the stars. She didn't take her eyes off Sanza until he'd closed the door behind him... and after he was inside, she continued watching the shrine for several more seconds afterwards... watching over him with a smile on her face.

Her heart filled with unwavering affection, she walked around to the back of the shrine, to the grassy patch just below Sanza's window... this was where she'd be sleeping for the second time. She sat down and leaned against the shrine wall, staring up into the sky and speaking with silent passion...

"_You're welcome, Sanza._"

O-O-O

Long after both Sanza and Terra had gone to sleep, Chu-hui sat silently in her room, deep in thought. Somehow, she knew that Terra would stay... but she hoped that the girl had gotten the message: any further interference in Sanza's training would not be tolerated.

"_I did not wish to be so stern with her... she reminds me a bit of myself when I was that age... but she must stop coddling Sanza if she truly wishes him to get better. That is why I do not want her on my mountain."_

With only six more days of training left, Chu-hui knew that the most difficult tasks lay ahead for her young pupil... if she was going to teach him everything he'd come up the mountain to learn, she would have to push him harder than ever. She'd vastly widened his repertoire of skills, given Sanza more than enough to make him a halfway decent fighter... though he was still nowhere near _Robin's_ league.

Still, with the battlesuit he possessed, he wouldn't have to be. All Chu-hui had to do was to give Sanza just enough skills to be able to keep up in hand-to-hand combat... and over the final days, she would refine his technique, give him a style all his own, make him into a warrior.

"_And if that girl stays out of our way, I just might be able to do it."_

O-O-O

It was in the middle of another of Sanza's training exercises that Terra finally felt her vocal cords loosening up... she dared not try them out, knowing that she had to stay silent to help Sanza maintain his focus.

He was outside again, leaping from pole to pole across the Tree Guardian's gorge... most of the poles had retracted into the ground, giving him quite a difficult leap between each one. Watching on the far side of the gorge was Chu-hui, standing alongside Terra and monitoring how quickly it took Sanza to make it across each time. She wouldn't let him stop until he'd gotten across in ten seconds... and by her latest count, his current record was ten and a half.

Sometime during Sanza's fifth attempt, the Guardian of the Trees himself came up alongside Terra. He watched Sanza for a few moments, then looked up at the geomancer and scratched his head.

"I don't remember ever seeing you," said the friendly monkey, pointing his finger at Terra and poking her repeatedly in the stomach. "You were supposed to have completed my trial before coming up the mountain."

Embarrassed, Terra gave a slight blush, then her confession.

"I um... I took the easy way," she stammered out, her voice slightly raspy. She coughed a couple of times, and then, "I'm sorry."

"Ohhhhhhhh..." said the tree guardian, who gave a couple of quick laughs, then looked up at Chu-hui. "Should I throw her off the mountain, or-"

"No," said Chu-hui, turning her attention away from Sanza so that she could speak to the tree guardian. "She may stay as long as she does not interfere in her companion's training."

As soon as she'd finished speaking, Sanza hopped off of the final pole and landed next to Chu-hui, gasping for breath.

"I'm... pretty sure... that was ten seconds..." breathed Sanza, bending over while looking at Chu-hui and waiting for her response.

"Oh... well, I didn't see it, you have to do it again."

Sanza's jaw dropped, and he nearly fell over. He was about ready to collapse from exhaustion, and he knew he'd completed his trip across the gorge much faster than any of his previous trips... but his master's word was law, and if she didn't see him, he'd have to go back.

"...was that my fault?" asked the tree guardian, putting his hand up to his mouth. "When he comes back, I really should apologize..."

The guardian then launched into a cacophony of laughter, while Terra let out a loud sigh, feeling bad that Sanza's only successful attempt to traverse the gorge in ten seconds had been completely for naught.

"_Then again, on the bright side... it does help him get more training in," _thought Terra, managing to bring a smile to her face. Upon seeing the smile, the True Master gave Terra a look of approval... the first she'd given the blonde in her entire stay on the mountain.

"Now you are beginning to understand what it truly means to be a warrior," said Chu-hui. "You are beginning to realize that the truest and surest path is not always the easy one... but is the one that comes with the most satisfaction, the path that takes true effort and strength to reach the end."

"Y...yeah," Terra replied, smiling nervously and placing her hand to the side of her face. "That's, um... that's it, uh huh."

As the two were speaking, Sanza once again landed next to Chu-hui, even more exhausted than he'd been before. He looked over into the woman's eyes, hoping that this time, she'd seen him make it across.

"Did you..."

"No, I didn't."

Chu-hui's response, followed by a smile, nearly drove Sanza out of his mind. He let out a frustrated groan, bowing his head before turning and leaping out into the gorge again, wincing in pain each time one of his sore feet landed on the tip of a pole. Terra watched with a bit of guilt, knowing that it had been her conversation, however brief, that had forced Sanza's successful effort to once again be scrapped.

"_I just have to keep reminding myself that this is making him better... I'll have time to make him _feel _better once today's training is over."_

O-O-O

That evening, as Sanza sat inside the dojo with his shirtless back to Terra, the blonde did the best she could to ease the tension out of his shoulders, her hands rubbing them with a constant, gentle pressure.

"I've never given anyone a massage before, so..."

"You're doing great," said Sanza in an encouraging tone. As Terra's soft fingers pressed and caressed his skin, he could feel the pain lifting out of his joints, and leaned back slightly, indicating to Terra that he wanted her to massage him a bit faster. "I know it's been tough for you today."

"For me? Sanza, you're the one who's been training so hard... going through all of that pain just to get stronger for me... well, not _just _for me, I mean, your family too, right?"

"Right... but I can see the look on your face whenever it seems like I'm hurting really badly... I mean, I know you're worried, and I know you want to run out and help me every time I get knocked down."

"...yeah," replied Terra, "but that wouldn't be helping you at all, would it?"

Sanza didn't say anything, he didn't shake his head... he was trying to think of what to tell Terra next, trying to think of what might reassure her the most... so that whenever he looked over at her during his training, he wouldn't have to see the worry in her eyes whenever he got hurt.

"Just you _being _here helps me, Terra... before you showed up, I wouldn't have been able to stand after a lot of the stuff I've been doing here... but one look at you and... and I just... I can't explain it, I just find the strength to get up and..."

Terra's hands were now resting on Sanza's shoulders, she was no longer massaging him... she was holding him, and as he spoke, she pulled him closer, until her arms were around him entirely, her hands resting on his stomach while his back was pressed against her chest. She held him like that for several seconds, her face leaning against the back of his head.

"I know, Sanza," she whispered, unable to tell him exactly how he made _her _feel... she'd never been in a situation where she felt so physically beaten that she just couldn't get up without seeing Sanza's face... but she could feel a surge of strength as well, just holding onto Sanza made her feel more powerful than she ever had before. "I know..."

The panel leading into Chu-hui's bedroom slid away, and the woman stepped out, holding two staves in her hands. One had been newly made, carved from a freshly chopped stalk of bamboo in the last ten minutes... which was why Sanza and Terra had been given that short amount of time to be alone. She tossed the newly-made staff to Sanza, which was his signal to get up and resume training... and Terra's signal to observe attentively and be ready at a moment's notice, giving Sanza the strength he needed to stand whenever he was knocked down.

O-O-O

The tenth day of training would be the most grueling yet... it began at the crack of dawn, with Sanza being forced to run laps around the shrine with water on his back... not just with two buckets, but with six, three placed on either side of the staff which Sanza had to carry on his shoulders. Nine days earlier, just two buckets had brought him to his knees... and though he was stronger by far, he still had difficulty just walking with six buckets, let alone running.

"That is your fifth lap, you will not eat breakfast until you have completed fifty!" Chu-hui admonished, watching Sanza from atop the roof of the shrine, her hands on her hips.

"_Fifty...?" _thought Terra, looking down at Sanza from the other side of the roof as he grunted and limped through his sixth circuit of the shrine's perimeter. _"He's about to collapse after five!"_

This grueling training was designed to help build Sanza's endurance... but it seemed to be breaking down everything else, and after completing his tenth lap, Sanza could feel a burning pain beginning to make its way through every joint in his body.

"_If I make it to twenty, it'll be a miracle..." _thought Sanza, who continued to push his tired legs forward, looking up at Terra and drawing another burst of strength from her. _"Maybe I should start praying..."_

Sanza began to focus his mind and think about God, uttering a silent prayer as he completed yet another lap around the building. Soon, however, the pain was becoming too much for Sanza to bear, and it began pushing all thoughts of God, along with everything else, completely out of his mind. After fifteen laps, he could barely feel his legs, save for a dull pain that made them feel almost twice as heavy as they normally were. The majority of the pain was in Sanza's back, a sharp, stabbing ache that radiated up from just above his waist to the area between his shoulder blades, flaring intermittently up and down as he continued to run.

"You're thinking about the pain, stop thinking about that and clear your mind," advised Chu-hui. "Only thirty more laps to go..."

"It might help..." shouted Sanza as he passed his teacher, "if you didn't remind me how many I had left...!"

"_At least he's still going..." _thought Terra, trying to be as encouraging as she could, even giving Sanza a smile the next time he passed her way. "Come on, Sanza, you can do it, twenty-nine more to go, keep it up!"

Chu-hui gave Terra a glare, which Terra responded to by shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, it's not like I'm trying to give him any advice or anything... I just want to encourage him, okay?"

Saying nothing, the master returned her gaze to Sanza, who had seemed to hit his stride as he came around the shrine again. Sanza still looked as if he were in pain, but from the way he was running, it appeared as if he'd at least managed to block out some of it from his mind.

"_That's it, Sanza, you've got it... just a bit more to go... yeah, it hurts, but you've dealt with pain before... don't even focus on it, keep going, keep looking up at Terra... you're doing this for her, remember that... all for her..."_

Twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty... Sanza completed his remaining laps around the shrine without letting on that he was losing strength with every step he took. Even as he finished his forty-fifth, he kept pushing himself as hard as he could, not wanting to drop off his performance even a single bit as he entered the home stretch... but as soon as Chu-hui announced that Sanza had finally completed his fiftieth lap, he let everything go, allowing the buckets to drop from his back and collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath as pain filled every part of his body. He let out a loud scream, prompting Terra to leap down and run to his side... while Chu-hui, still watching from above, slowly shook her head, instantly realizing Sanza's mistake.

"_Even once you have finished, you cannot lose focus... to do that is to allow the dam holding back all of your pain to burst, and it will all come at once in an overwhelming flood... I have been sloppy in allowing you to continue that mentality, I will not allow it to continue any further."_

Though Terra had previously allowed Sanza to pick himself up, seeing him in so much pain was too much for her to bear, and she pulled him to his feet, wrapping her arms around him to keep him from falling again.

"It's okay, Sanza... you did great..."

"You should let him walk it off," said Chu-hui, hopping down from the roof and walking over to Sanza and Terra. "Part of the pain he is feeling is his entire body cramping up... unless he walks around for a little while, the pain will stay with him for days."

Upon hearing that, both Sanza and Terra exchanged worried looks... Sanza tried to take a step, but his trembling leg would not allow it, and he nearly fell over again... fortunately, Terra was there to hold him up, and she guided him through his first few steps before releasing Sanza to walk on his own.

"While he works through that, I will cook breakfast," said Chu-hui, making her way back to the mountain shrine.

"...you'll cook breakfast for me?" replied Terra. Chu-hui looked back at her, then continued toward the shrine.

"Just this once," she said before disappearing through the front doors. After she was gone, Sanza took a few more tenuous steps, and soon, he was back to his normal walking pace... though he still continued to feel pain with every move he made.

As he continued walking around the perimeter of the shrine, Terra began walking alongside of him, and the two talked with one another until Chu-hui had completed breakfast. Soon, most of the pain in Sanza's body was gone... though he couldn't tell if that was because he was no longer cramping, or because Terra was with him. It was probably a bit of both.

One thing he knew for sure... the day had started out more difficult than any before it... and if he knew Chu-hui, it would only get harder as it went along.

O-O-O

After undergoing several more difficult training exercises, Sanza found himself standing blindfolded in the middle of the dojo. His wrists were bound behind his back, and his ankles were bound together... Chu-hui, armed with a bamboo staff, was standing a short distance away, ready to attack her severely-impaired student.

"If you are captured by the enemy, you will need to be able to fight like this in order to survive."

"_...how's he supposed to fight, he can't even see, let alone move..." _thought Terra, a look of concern on her face.

"_With this blindfold on, I won't even be able to see Terra..." _thought Sanza, who was trying to focus as much as he could so that he could avoid Chu-hui's inevitable attack. He bent his knees slightly, preparing himself to hop away. He was tired from his earlier training, and he couldn't help but think that without Terra's encouraging smile, he'd be at a severe disadvantage... even moreso than he already was. Suddenly, he could hear something coming down at him through the air... he rolled away just in time, quickly getting back to his feet despite the lack of balance caused by his arms being bound. _"That was really close!"_

Seeing Sanza avoid Chu-hui's attack without even seeing it was greatly encouraging to Terra, who leapt into the air and shouted her congratulations.

"Way to go, Sanza, keep it up!"

"Shhhh!" Chu-hui hissed, looking back at Terra. "He needs to be able to hear, otherwise-"

Seizing his opportunity, Sanza leapt into the air and drop-kicked Chu-hui in the face, knocking her back.

"Now who's the distracted one?" said Sanza, a hint of arrogance in his voice. He remained on the ground, biding his time before he had to get up. "You shouldn't worry about her, I'm your opponent, remember?"

Chu-hui did not respond, swinging her staff down at Sanza only to have him catch it between his feet. He tried to yank it away by bending back his legs, but Chu-hui was able to pull it up and ready another strike, which Sanza was again able to dodge by rolling out of the way.

"_How's he doing that...? He can't even see, but he knows the attacks are coming!" _Terra thought back to a training session between Robin and herself some time ago... Robin had asked her to throw rocks at him while he was sitting blindfolded on the ground. Terra balked, but when she finally complied, she was astonished to see him effortlessly dodging and punching right through the rocks, no matter how quickly she threw them. _"I wondered where he learned how to do that... maybe _I _should be training with the True Master...!"_

After dodging Chu-hui's next few attacks, Sanza's fatigue began catching up with him... he hopped over an attack from her staff, only to be brought to the ground by a kick that struck him squarely in the nose. He hit the straw mat immediately, and could feel a stream of blood beginning to drip from one of his nostrils. His concentration temporarily broken, he was at his opponent's mercy... and she jabbed Sanza several times in the stomach, forcing the wind out of him with repeated blows from her staff.

He received five such blows before he was able to roll away... he stood up and launched an attack, trying to hop over to Chu-hui... but he tripped on his bound feet and fell forward, receiving a hard blow across his chin. The blow knocked him onto his back again, and Terra responded with a loud scream.

"SANZA, NO...!" Terra was unable to stop herself, watching in horror as Chu-hui placed the end of her staff to Sanza's neck. _"I thought... I thought he was winning!"_

"You lost your focus," said Chu-hui, tossing away her staff and kneeling down next to her student, who was still coughing and gasping on the ground.

"Not... because... of Terra..." Sanza replied weakly.

"No, not because of her... you got overconfident far too quickly, and you lost your second sight," said Chu-hui, removing Sanza's blindfold so that he could look up into her eyes. "You walked right into defeat."

"...as you can see," replied Sanza, gesturing with his head toward his bound ankles, "I can't really walk at all..."

"...it was a metaphor," said Chu-hui, sighing and shaking her head. Sanza looked over at Terra, who was giggling profusely, prompting Chu-hui to give her an angry look. "Don't encourage him."

"That's what I'm here for," Terra quipped, walking over to Sanza and looking down at him. "You know... the first time you were tied up like this, you were in really bad danger and I was worried for you... but... now that you're pretty much completely safe, you... look kind of cute like that."

The remark prompted a blush from both Terra and Sanza, while Chu-hui simply shook her head again, rolling her eyes a couple of times.

"Oh... I didn't know you were into that sorta thing," said Sanza, a smirk on his face. Terra blushed even harder.

"Enough," said Chu-hui, turning Sanza over and untying his bonds. "We still have a lot to work on today..."

As Chu-hui was busily untying Sanza, Terra continued to blush. She was disappointed that he hadn't been able to complete the training exercise, but seeing him work so hard had made her more attracted to him than ever... and she appreciated even more just how much he was learning.

"_If you keep this up, I just know you'll be strong enough to take down Slade one day...! And I'll be right beside you... I promise, you won't have to fight him alone..."_

O-O-O

Sanza was completely exhausted from training by the time he collapsed into bed that night... but unlike other nights, he didn't fall asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. Instead, he stared up at the ceiling, his mind drifting from thought to thought... he didn't know if that's what was keeping him awake, or if it was the dull pain still present in his body, keeping him from moving even a single muscle.

"_Four more days of this to go... four more days until I can go back home with Terra... until I can finally get ready to take down Slade..."_

Though he felt physically spent, emotionally he was at an all-time high. Terra's presence at the shrine had completely done the trick, rejuvenating his body, his mind, and his soul. He still missed his mother and sister, but with Terra around, he didn't feel even the least bit homesick. He was ready to complete his training, ready to perform whatever tasks the True Master laid out for him... one look at Terra, and he felt completely reborn.

The panel to Sanza's room slid open.

"I was just thinking about you," said Sanza, as Terra entered the room. She was no longer clad in her familiar t-shirt and denim shorts... instead, she wore a beautiful red kimono, tied at the waist with a purple sash. "...where'd you get that?"

"I... kind of took it from the True Master's room," Terra said, blushing slightly. Chu-hui had made a quick trip outside to re-fill a bucket, and Terra had snuck into her room, trying to find out more about the strange woman whom Sanza, and Robin once, called master. She hadn't found out anything about Chu-hui's past, but she _had _found the kimono... and instantly thought of Sanza's reaction to seeing her in it. "You like it?"

"I... I _do_," said Sanza, beginning to blush again as Terra sat down next to him. "You wanna talk...?"

"Well... I can see you're really tired, maybe I-"

Sanza shook his head, sitting up with a bit of effort and gently placing his hand around Terra's upper arm.

"We can talk."

Terra responded with a smile, and soon, the two of them were chatting about everything... Sanza recalled to Terra everything about his first few days on the mountain that he hadn't already told her about, while Terra informed Sanza about everything that was going on at Titans Tower. Terra then told Sanza about the time she'd spent with Maria and Maddy in the days since Sanza had left... Sanza told Terra about experiences from his childhood, funny stories about himself and his sister...

Despite Sanza's physical weariness, he enjoyed speaking with Terra so much that he stayed wide awake, and the two of them completely lost track of time, chatting the night away with words and laughter... to Terra, Sanza was the perfect companion... not quite as funny or even as charming as Beast Boy, but what he lacked in a sense of humor, he made up for with emotional strength. He was one of the most devoted people that Terra had ever met... willing to do anything to protect the people he loved, but, unlike Robin, not quite to the point of being obsessive.

She only wished that she'd met Sanza before meeting the Titans so long ago... he'd have saved her from Slade then... even if she'd have betrayed him, he would still accept her.

To Sanza, Terra was a kindred spirit, funny and free-spirited, not defiant like he was, but a different kind of freedom... one that came in spite of all the challenge and hardship she had faced in her life. Though there were times when she was overwhelmed by despair, Terra still maintained a sense of hope and happiness that could not be completely quashed... she was as determined as he was, and twice as brave.

And she was the kindest person Sanza had ever known... despite all the cruelty she'd performed in the past, Terra was still a loyal and devoted friend... he could forgive her completely, knew that had he been that twisted and broken by Slade, he'd have likely done a lot worse... in fact, he almost did.

"So... tell me about this dream, the one you had when you were coming up the mountain."

"W...what dream?" Sanza stammered, half from sleepiness and half from wanting to dodge the uncomfortable task of having to divulge the details of the erotic dream he'd had of Terra.

"The one where I kissed you."

Terra had a wide smile on her face, and she was leaning in, sensing that Sanza was withholding some very juicy information from her. Sanza feigned ignorance for a few more moments... then, realizing that Terra was going to persist, decided to go ahead and come clean.

"Well, you know, I was up on the mountain, and then suddenly, I saw you... you came toward me and you... well, you kissed me..."

"I see..." said Terra, backing off slightly and thinking for a moment. "Was there anything else?"

"You... you..." Sanza looked away slightly, blushing more and more as he tried to evade the subject... but when he looked back at Terra, he could see that her interest had been totally piqued. "You started taking off your shirt."

"...did I now?"

For a moment, Terra seemed to be offended... but it was a ruse, and once she'd gotten the reaction she wanted, the look of worry, fear, and a bit of embarrassment that Sanza displayed immediately after thinking he'd freaked Terra out, she began to laugh. Soon, Sanza started laughing as well, and for a few seconds, the two sat there, laughing quietly, both of them reveling in the other's amusement.

"It's a perfectly normal dream for a teenage guy, you know!"

"Oh, I know, I know," Terra responded, looking away from Sanza and thinking for several seconds, her mind beginning to contemplate the possibility of intimacy with him. _"...would it be too soon? How long ago did we meet, a month? ...I love him, that's not the problem... a dream is one thing, but we've never even gotten past first base! What if I ask him and he thinks I'm... like... a slut or something! I've never felt like this about _anyone _before..."_

While Terra was looking away, Sanza was recalling the dream he'd had... and began thinking the same thing that Terra was, though neither of them knew what the other was thinking.

"_God, she's so beautiful... especially in that kimono... ugh, what am I thinking? We've only known each other a few weeks, Cleo and I were dating for way longer than that before we started thinking about..."_

But every time Sanza tried to think about something else, the dream he'd had kept replaying in his mind. Terra had a spectacular body... or at least, he thought so. She was radiant, almost angelic... Cleo was beautiful as well, compared to her, Terra was pure... and with every second that went by, Sanza wanted her even more.

The moment that Terra turned around, he began to ask her... and she asked him at the same time.

"Terra, if you want to-"

"Sanza, I think we could-"

The simultaneous proposals were stunning to both of them, and they recoiled slightly... the smiles quickly returned to their faces, and they tried making their offers again.

"I think we-"

"Let's see if-"

"...you first," said Sanza, his entire body beginning to tremble. _"I can't believe it... she wants it too?"_

"Sanza, I was just saying that, well... if you want to... you know, have sex..."

The last two words had come out so suddenly that even Terra was surprised... she blushed even deeper, wondering for a moment if she'd _drastically _misinterpreted what Sanza was trying to tell her.

Fortunately, she wasn't.

"I'd... really like to," said Sanza, "I just... well, when Cleo and I were... I didn't have any protection, and-"

"It's okay," replied Terra, slowly pulling him over to her and looking into his eyes. "I trust you."

"...what if... you know, what if you-"

"I told you, it's okay," she said. At this point, she wanted it so much that she would accept whatever consequences occurred... she could feel her entire body beginning to tense up, her lips and fingers trembling in anticipation... slowly, with a bit of trepidation, she reached down to her waist and began loosening the sash of her kimono. As she was doing this, Sanza removed the black cloth belt from his waist, then removed his white karate shirt, tossing it over to the side of the room.

"_Is... is it still too soon? I love her, I love her with all of my heart..." _

While Sanza was still thinking about just what implications this intimacy would have on his relationship with Terra, she was pulling the kimono down from her shoulders, revealing her chest, which was concealed by a thin, black sports bra... as soon as Sanza saw it, he said something that he hoped would release any remaining tension he and Terra were still having.

"That bra was white in my dream."

"Started wearing this after the team began training to fight the Brotherhood of Evil..." said Terra, smiling as she removed the rest of the kimono from her body, tossing it over on top of Sanza's karate shirt and revealing that she was wearing a pair of black panties as well. "It's a lot more comfortable, doesn't chafe at all, and-"

Slightly turned off by the direction the conversation was beginning to take, Sanza ended it immediately, pressing his lips firmly against Terra's. She reciprocated a second later, parting her lips and accepting Sanza's tongue into her mouth, while allowing him to reach behind her back and begin slipping the bra from her chest.

"_This is it... no turning back now... but I feel so incredible, I want this so much and I love you..." _Terra's mind was racing as Sanza pulled off her bra, baring her breasts while continuing to kiss her tenderly. He tossed the bra over with the other clothes and pressed his body firmly against hers, enjoying how her tender breasts felt against his chest. He continued to kiss her, and she began rubbing up against him, nearly pushing him over in her excitement.

He pulled back slightly, breaking off the kiss and looking deeply into her blue eyes. Her expression was one of pure love, pure exhilaration... she _did _want this, just as much as he did... nothing else mattered anymore, not Cleo, not Slade... he was lost in the moment, completely consumed with emotion, alternating between love and lust.

"You... you ready...?" he said, his breaths getting louder and more intense with every moment. She nodded, then took Sanza's hands and pressed them gently to her breasts, biting her lip as he cupped his palms around them. They weren't very large, not even large enough to squeeze, but Sanza didn't care... he rubbed them gently, taking care not to cause Terra any pain... he felt her nipples hardening beneath his hands, and began rubbing just a bit faster, stimulating them enough to elicit a quiet moan from the topless blonde.

"Just... a bit more..." she whispered, before planting a series of kisses on Sanza's neck. She closed her eyes, just as excited as he was, not paying attention to anything else around her but the pureness and warmth of Sanza's touch. "I... love... you..."

"Love you too, Terra... I love you more than anything in the-"

The panel of the room slid open, and Sanza barely had time to turn around before Chu-hui's staff clocked him right between the eyes, just as it had done during Sanza's dream... but this time, the blow interrupted him for real, killing his arousal in an instant and causing Terra to let out a surprised scream.

"What is this foolishness?" Chu-hui shouted, gesturing to the window. Outside, the sky was rapidly brightening... and a hint of red and pink could be seen sticking out beyond the horizon. "It is thirty minutes until sunrise, your training begins then!"

As Sanza clutched his head, which was throbbing with pain, Terra had grabbed the thin blue sheet that Sanza normally used as a blanket, pulling it up to her body to conceal her nudity. Chu-hui looked over at her, her eyes narrowed in annoyed anger.

"This is exactly what I thought would happen. Your presence is causing Sanza to lust, distracting him from his training and from the rest he so vitally needs!"

Now completely returned to his normal, non-Terra train of thought, all of the exhaustion of the previous day caught up with Sanza at once, and he felt a crushing wave of fatigue... there was no way he'd be able to get up in thirty minutes to train.

"And what's this...?" Chu-hui said, walking over to the corner and picking up her kimono. "...you stole this from me?"

Terra didn't know what to say... and without the kimono, she had to use the sheet to cover up her body, which only served to humiliate her even more. Chu-hui continued to look at Terra for several more seconds before tossing the kimono back over at her.

"It's yours now," she said, "but don't _ever _go into my room again."

She then looked over at Sanza, who was fading in and out of sleep.

"And as for _you_... training starts at sunrise."

"B...but... I can't!" Sanza stammered sleepily. "I'm too tired, I-"

"You should've thought of _that _before giving in to your own lust. If you're not outside in twenty-eight minutes, I'll drag you out."

Chu-hui exited the room, slamming the panel shut behind her. Once again feeling terribly guilty, Terra knelt down next to Sanza, apologizing repeatedly.

"Sanza, this is my fault... if I hadn't come in to talk to you, if I hadn't-"

"Terra, don't... there's nothing to apologize for," said Sanza with a loud yawn. He bowed his head and let out a sigh, knowing that it was his own fault that he was in this situation... and he'd have to train the next day on less than a half-hour of sleep because of it.

"...I should probably let you get to sleep."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Terra... in the afternoon. I want _you _to get a good night's sleep."

Terra started to protest, but before she could, Sanza had closed his eyes and had entered into a state of impenetrable slumber. Letting out a sigh, Terra put on her bra, then the kimono, tying off the sash before sliding open the panel and exiting the room. Before she did, she turned back to Sanza one last time, smiling warmly at his sleeping frame.

"...I love you."

O-O-O

The next day of training was just as difficult as the last... but the fact that Sanza had to train on just thirty minutes of sleep made it an ordeal unlike any other, and by the time he finally did get to go to bed, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The twelfth day of training was easy by comparison, as the rest, combined with Terra's continued encouragement, pushed Sanza to levels of strength he'd never had before.

And no matter how much the two of them wanted to, Sanza and Terra never once attempted to get intimate with each other in those next few days... save for an occasional kiss or two.

The thirteenth day consisted of the toughest and most rigorous training yet for Sanza... and as the sun set on that final day, he found himself completely and utterly exhausted.

"You have grown strong... but we will see tomorrow if you have grown strong enough," said Chu-hui, standing just outside the temple with Sanza. Watching the two of them from a short distance away was Terra, relieved that there was just one day remaining in Sanza's intense ordeal.

"_One more day... I'm so proud of you, Sanza, when you come back you're going to be able to kick as much butt as anybody!"_

A smile was on Chu-hui's face... for the first time since he'd arrived in the village at the base of the mountain, the martial-arts master was actually proud of Sanza... she'd had her doubts about him, and his defiant attitude was still there... but he'd completed most of her tasks, and had shown an incredible improvement in a very short amount of time.

And Sanza was smiling as well, though his body was weary and was covered in sweat... he'd faced down some of the toughest tasks of his entire life, and was so much stronger for the experience... he was more than ready to show the True Master everything he'd learned.

"Thank you, master," said Sanza, bowing respectfully to Chu-hui. "I know I probably haven't been the easiest pupil to train-"

"The hardest," she replied quickly, prompting him to rise and look at her. She laughed for a few moments, then repeated her response. "Definitely the hardest."

Sanza exhaled sharply, watching as Chu-hui turned and walked back into her temple. He then turned to Terra, who walked over and quickly kissed Sanza on the lips. Over the past few days, she'd had a few more brushes with the True Master, but it seemed that her presence was finally accepted... and hopefully, her role in assisting Sanza with his training would be acknowledged.

"_Okay... I held up a couple of punching pads... that's gotta count for something."_

But both Terra and Sanza knew that the geomancer had had a much more important role in helping Sanza get stronger.

"_Before she showed up, I never thought I'd get this strong... but now..."_

Sanza hugged Terra tightly, pulling her face close to his chest. She smiled, her hair rubbing against the fabric of Sanza's karate gi for a moment before a powerful smell hit her right in the nose.

"Sanza, you smell really bad."

Sanza backed off from Terra for a moment... then, he began to laugh, and she did as well.

"Well... you try... training all day... without bathing... and see how you smell afterwards!" Sanza shouted through intense laughter. The two of them continued to laugh for nearly fifteen seconds... not because what Terra said was particularly funny, but because she and Sanza were both so happy... happy to be together, happy that Sanza was nearly finished with his training...

For Sanza and Terra, their lives had never been better than they were at that very moment. They were jubilant, they were joyful, and they had each other... they needed nothing else.

O-O-O

A happy end to this chapter, and it seems that Sanza's training is almost over as well! Will the good times continue, or will something show up to ruin the fun? Don't miss the next chapter... and please review, two reviews for the last 50,000 words is not my idea of appreciation.


	20. Top Of The Mountain

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

As Sanza slid into the hot spring, allowing the water to cleanse his body and soothe his joints, he looked up at the beautiful stars, knowing it would be the last time he'd get to experience such an amazing sight. After tomorrow, he'd be going back home to Jump City... his training would finally be complete.

"_And then I can finally take down Slade... and I'll be able to live without looking over my shoulder all the time... just me and Terra... safe and sound..."_

After he'd departed for the spring, he thought that Terra had gone back into the shrine to sleep... so when he saw her walking down the path, he sat up in surprise. She smiled at him, heading over to the small wooden rack that had been set up to lay out the clothes of anyone who got into the hot spring.

"Terra... what are you doing here?"

"What's it look like?" she replied, sliding off her black and yellow shirt and placing it on the rack. "I'm getting in too."

"Uh..." A deep blush appeared on Sanza's face as he looked down at himself through the water. The clouded spring concealed everything below its surface, revealing only his shoulders and head... so once Terra climbed into the water, it wasn't as if he'd be able to see her... but still, being naked in such close proximity to his girlfriend, especially after what the two of them had almost done a few days earlier, made him both very nervous and very excited... and his excitement built as he watched Terra remove her shoes, socks, and shorts, stripping down to her underwear. "Not that I don't want to be in the hot spring with you, but... the True Master said-"

"We're not going to _do _anything..." Terra replied, blushing as well. She placed her hands on her hips and gave Sanza a quizzical look, an almost-smile that concealed whether she was annoyed or amused. "I just wanna talk to you a bit more... now close your eyes until I tell you to open them."

"...a few days ago, you didn't have any problem with me seeing you naked," said Sanza, still smirking at Terra as she started to pull off her bra. She stopped just short of revealing her nipples, her eyes narrowing into a glare.

"Just do it," she said, continuing to glare until Sanza got the message and closed his eyes. Terra then removed the rest of her clothes and began walking around to enter the spring on the other side. As she was walking, Sanza briefly cracked his eyes open just a bit, catching a quick glimpse at Terra's backside before closing his eyes again.

"_She's so beautiful..." _he thought. _"The way her hair swishes back and forth when she walks, the way her skin shines in the moonlight... and she has a _really _cute butt, too."_

Still thinking fairly perverted thoughts as Terra slowly slid into the spring, Sanza was soon snapped out of them, literally, as Terra snapped her fingers in his face to signal that he could open his eyes.

"Okay, you can look now..." said Terra. She was seated on the opposite end of the spring from Sanza, her head and shoulders sticking out of the water just enough for him to be able to see the top of her breasts... the rest of her body was concealed by steam and cloudy water. Still, Sanza liked what he saw... and Terra giggled in response, her cheeks turning red once more. "I hope your hands aren't doing what I think they are..."

"They've been right up here the whole time," said Sanza, resting his arms just above the edge of the spring as he leaned his back up against it. "I'm not _that _big of a perv."

The two teens relaxed in the warm water, taking in the beautiful surroundings and not saying a word, just letting the serenity of the moment sink in.

"I've never seen so many stars..." said Terra quietly, looking up in wonder at all of the beautiful celestial features in the sky. "I've been out in the middle of the desert and I haven't seen as many stars as this..."

"Probably because we're above most of the clouds," Sanza replied, peering out as far as he could. It was a very clear night... he couldn't see a cloud at all, not in the sky or below the summit. "Uh... well, even if it was cloudy, we'd still see the stars like this. I think."

Terra giggled again, amused by Sanza's attempt to show off his knowledge. He was definitely more street smart than he was book smart, but Terra didn't care... she was charmed, just as she'd been during that brief period when she dated Beast Boy. At least Sanza wasn't clueless enough to believe that the clouds were alive... then again, Beast Boy might've just been trying to make Terra laugh when he said that. She wasn't quite sure.

"I'm... kind of gonna miss this place," Sanza said, looking back down from the stars and into Terra's eyes. "I mean, I missed my family and my apartment, and I'm not going to miss all the training, but... it really has been beautiful up here."

Terra nodded in agreement, though she was missing her friends back at Titans Tower quite a bit... and was even missing the daily fights against bad guys, though she certainly didn't miss looking for Slade. She wouldn't care if she never saw him again.

"I'm just glad you're safe, Sanza," said Terra quietly. "I had some dreams before I came to see you, I thought... I don't know, maybe Slade was going to show up or something."

Sanza's eyes widened a bit at the mention of Slade, and the smile briefly disappeared from his face... but he quickly returned to his carefree self, laughing off Terra's worries and reaching over to place a reassuring hand on her cheek.

"Hey... we're out in the middle of nowhere, even if Slade _did _want to find us..."

"I know, Robin said the same thing, it's just..."

"You don't have to worry," said Sanza, brushing some of Terra's hair back as he gently stroked his hand across her skin. "At least not while we're here. Now, once we get back to the city..."

Terra nodded, sighing to herself as Sanza leaned back over against the side of the spring. Slade was in Jump City, not out in the middle of China... maybe that fact was another reason why Sanza wasn't exactly 100 ready to come back home.

That, and the fact that he'd have to go to school on his first day back. School after two weeks of intense martial-arts training was _not _Sanza's idea of fun.

"Besides... once we get back, I'm going to be tougher than ever," Sanza said confidently. "There's no way Slade's going to beat us now... I bet if I really wanted to, I could beat him by myself."

"I won't let you," Terra replied, a determined smile forming on her face. "I'm going to fight him too... right at your side... every step of the way!"

Sanza returned Terra's smile with one of his own, glad to have her support, whether he needed it or not. With her and the rest of the Teen Titans fighting alongside Sanza, Slade didn't stand a chance.

The city would be safe... Sanza's family would be safe... and most importantly, Terra would be safe.

"Well, with that settled, I guess..." Before Sanza could say another word, he felt something stroking across the sole of his left foot... he laughed several times before realizing that it was Terra's big toe, tickling him beneath the surface of the water. He looked up to see her laughing as well. _"I'll give you something to laugh about!!"_

Sanza pulled his feet back, then began using his own toes to tickle Terra's soles, causing her light giggles to become hysterical laughter.

"S...stop, you're even worse than your sister!!" Terra cried, pulling back her legs before pushing her arms forward and splashing Sanza with all of her might. As the hot spring water splashed against his face, Sanza winced for a moment... then retaliated with a splash of his own, then two more splashes... and soon, he and Terra were splashing each other every second, expelling a large amount of water from the spring. The splash fight continued for several more minutes before the two playful teens leaned back against the sides of the spring, still laughing quietly to themselves.

Over the last six days, Sanza and Terra's love had grown stronger than ever. Through hardship after hardship, through trials both physical and emotional, they'd pulled together and had become totally devoted to each other... and now, sitting together in a beautiful mountain spring, with the stars shining down upon them, they both thought of nothing more than returning home and ridding their lives of Slade forever.

They had once been his apprentices... but now, they would end his reign of terror... forever.

O-O-O

The sun rose high above Jump City, but the Teen Titans were not asleep in their Tower... they'd been up all night, tracking a lead on the whereabouts of Slade, and now they were engaged in battle with the monster Overload and a squad of upgraded Sladebots outside the ruins of an abandoned factory.

"I cannot sustain this bombardment much longer!" shouted Starfire, throwing Starbolt after Starbolt at a glowing shield generated by one of the Sladebots. The robot had placed itself in front of Overload and had formed a shield over both of them, allowing Overload to launch attacks on the Titans without fear of reprisal. "There must be another way to break down this shield!"

"By breaking down that Sladebot," said Raven, tossing metal crates from the factory at another of the bots, who was effortlessly punching through them and sustaining only minor dents in the process. "Wanna trade? I might be able to use my telekinesis to attack him inside his shield..."

As Raven waited for Starfire's response, another of the Sladebots was charging toward her, holding a large forklift up in its arms and preparing to smash the half-demoness. Catching the Sladebot out of the corner of his eye, Beast Boy lunged toward it, trying to stop it from harming his friend before it was too late.

"RAVEN!" Beast Boy shouted, before transforming into a rhinoceros and charging into the Sladebot, knocking it off course and saving Raven. As Raven and Starfire switched up their targets, Robin engaged two more of the Sladebots in close-range combat. He was barely able to hold them off with his staff... normally, he could easily take out six or more of the robots, but now he could barely handle two.

"_Slade must've upgraded... significantly." _Robin ducked under a punch from one of the Sladebots before swinging his bo staff into the back of the second, knocking it briefly away. _"But why? And how? An upgrade this good must've been planned way in advance... even before he started working with the Brotherhood of Evil..."_

The Sladebot that Beast Boy had pushed away from Raven threw its forklift away and thrust its hands outward, into the front of Beast Boy's horn. It planted its feet into the ground and pushed back with all its might... and soon, the massive green rhino had been stopped in its tracks. Before Beast Boy could respond, one punch from the Sladebot sent him flying... right into Starfire. The two of them collided and were thrown backwards a great distance, all the way into an adjacent street.

"Unnnh..." Beast Boy detransformed, standing up and rubbing his head. "Never seen a Sladebot do that before..."

The Sladebot began charging toward the two stunned heroes, only to have an elbow slammed into its chest by Cyborg. The elbow knocked the Sladebot onto its back, prompting Cyborg to emit a very spirited "BOOYAH!". Nearby, Raven was concentrating with all of her strength, chanting to herself and gathering the energy she would need to pierce the Sladebot's barrier around Overload.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos... azarath, metreon, zinthos... azarath, metreon... ZINTHOS!!!"

The eyes of the barrier-generating Sladebot widened, just before it exploded in a bright flash of light, destroying its barrier and leaving Overload completely exposed. Before the electrical monstrosity could react, it was hit in the gut by a blast from Cyborg's plasma cannon, knocking it aside and leaving a wide-open path to the factory ahead.

"Everyone, get inside the factory!" shouted Robin, swinging his bo staff with all of his might and decapitating two of the upgraded Sladebots. "Hurry!"

As the remaining Sladebots gave chase, the five Titans fled into the factory, closing and locking the doors behind them. Starfire and Cyborg crouched down and stood ready to fight, but after several seconds of intense pounding, the Sladebots gave up and left, leaving the Titans to their own devices.

"Never thought busting up a few Sladebots would be so exhausting," said Cyborg, wiping the sweat off his brow and turning toward Raven and Robin, who were already working together at a large computer console against the wall of the factory. "Did you guys find anything about Slade?"

"Yeah," said Robin solemnly, "we found lots."

"Blueprints, schematics, designs for new Sladebots and other mechanical battle creatures... Slade's been very busy," Raven mused, her eyes scanning the screen as her fingers worked the keyboard.

"But we still don't know who his next target is," Robin said, increasing frustration in his voice. "Dammit! Knowing about Slade's new technology is _useless _unless we can figure out who he's gonna use it on!"

"Well, we know one thing..." said Beast Boy, glancing all the way across the factory... the building was much larger than indicated by the facade, its main corridor nearly a thousand feet long... and more than fifty feet wide. "Slade needed a lot of space..."

As Starfire flew out over the length of the corridor, she could see a set of black markings... two of them, equidistant from one another. They were about eight hundred feet long, stopping a little more than four-fifths of the way from the front of the building.

"There are two very strange black markings on the floor," said Starfire, floating back over to Robin and Raven to report her findings.

"...so, was Slade driving a truck in here?" asked Cyborg curiously, looking out across the factory to see the markings for himself. "Must've been a pretty big truck, they're way far apart..."

Robin took a few brief moments to ponder exactly what the markings could be... he then returned to his work, trying desperately to find out any information on who Slade's next target would be. Meanwhile, Beast Boy had wandered over to a large, button-laden console next to the computer monitor. He glared at the buttons for a moment, before reaching toward a large red one near the top of the console.

"Beast Boy, don't," Raven said, watching as Beast Boy's finger got closer and closer to the button.

"Aw, c'mon, Rae... it's big, it's red, it's shiny, don't you want to see what it does?"

But before Raven could protest, she would soon find out... Beast Boy pressed the button, causing a violent mechanical screeching to emit from above. The Titans all stopped what they were doing, looking up to see the aluminum roof of the building slowly begin to slide away.

"Aw man, Beast Boy, what'd you do this time?" said Cyborg, watching as the roof retracted to reveal the sky above.

"Dude, I didn't mean... I thought... wait, since when did factories have retractable roofs anyway?"

The roof continued to slide away until it was completely gone, opening the factory to the elements and causing Robin to take another glance back at the computer screen. On the page that he'd just opened was a design for a jet airplane... and when Robin took another glance at the middle of the factory, he began to notice something.

The large, wide corridor in the center of the building looked just like an airstrip...

O-O-O

Several hours later, the sun rose in China, and once again, Sanza was up bright and early to train. He was blindfolded once more, and standing in the True Master's dojo with staff in hand.

"Is this the final test?" Sanza asked.

"No... this is practice," said Chu-hui, "a warm-up if you will."

Several tall wooden panels had been set up throughout the dojo, each of them carved from the same thick bamboo as Sanza's staff. Sanza stood in the center of the room, he thought he could sense something around him, but he wasn't quite sure. Standing next to Chu-hui was Terra, looking on while wondering what this morning's task could possibly be.

"You are to destroy all eight panels... while dodging the discs that I throw at you," said Chu-hui, who had stacked up a large pile of ceramic discs on the floor beside her. "Those panels are bamboo, so it will take a great amount of strength and focus to break them."

Sanza nodded slightly, acknowledging his task... which he knew would be a very difficult one. As strong as his punches were, and as formidable as his kicks had become, he didn't know whether or not he could shatter thick bamboo... and to do it all while being forced to dodge projectiles? He crouched down into a fighting stance, readying himself for Chu-hui's signal.

"_I know you can do it, Sanza..." _Terra watched with excitement, barely able to contain herself. She was a bit worried that Sanza might get hurt... especially if one of those discs found its way to his head. Despite that, she remained optimistic, and knew that after all she'd seen Sanza do, this would be easy.

"...begin!"

As soon as Chu-hui gave the signal, she began flinging discs at Sanza's head and chest. He could hear them as they came at him through the air, and swung his staff in their direction to shatter them to pieces. Then, he ran to the side and kicked up into the air, hoping that he would be able to break one of the panels with his kick. He could feel one of the panel faces against his foot, and kicked off of it, swinging out his staff and breaking two more discs as he leapt through the air.

"_It was like kicking a brick wall," _thought Sanza to himself, landing on the floor and ducking beneath another disc. _"It'll take a really powerful blow to break that bamboo, it's gotta be at least three inches thick!"_

The rain of projectiles finally relented long enough to allow Sanza to swing his staff around a few more times, seeking out the presence of the bamboo panels. He could feel one of them on his third swing, and immediately turned toward it, rearing back his fist and preparing to punch through it with all his might.

Just as he brought his arm forward, he could feel one of the discs shatter against his shoulder. Screaming in pain, he fell to one knee, wincing as Terra let out a loud gasp.

"You allowed all your focus to shift to one task, and you completely forgot about protecting yourself!" Chu-hui scolded, throwing another disc, which this time, Sanza was able to break. "You must not allow yourself to get so caught up in completing an attack that you are left vulnerable... I see that even on the final day, you still have much to learn."

"_Come on, Sanza... don't let her get to you, just focus and concentrate and... just... do whatever you need to, okay?" _thought Terra. Though she knew that Sanza couldn't see her, she wanted to think encouraging thoughts... hoping that perhaps somehow, her vibes would transfer over to his mind. It was a lesson she'd learned from Raven. _"Please sense that I'm cheering you on..."_

At the moment, Sanza was trying to sense the panel in front of him... he brought back his fist and punched forward again, and this time, he was not interrupted, punching right through the middle and breaking the panel in two... as well as bruising the skin of his knuckles.

"Ow!" shouted Sanza, trying to shake all the pain from his hand. As he was wincing from that, he could hear another disc coming at him through the air, and brought up his staff to block it just in time. _"My hands are gonna be KILLING me after seven more of those..."_

Unable to contain herself, Terra leapt up into the air and pumped her fists, then whistled at Sanza and began shouting encouragement.

"All right, go Sanza! Break those panels, break 'em all!"

Worried that Chu-hui might react adversely to her show of emotion, Terra looked down at the woman... but her gaze was still focused solely on Sanza, who hadn't been distracted even for a second by Terra's cheers. A smile on his face was all that indicated that he'd heard Terra... and he was able to maintain his focus enough to block two more discs that were coming his way.

"_Now to find the other panels..." _thought Sanza, swinging his staff out twice and locating another of the large bamboo blocks, behind him to his left. He vaulted himself backwards, leaping over a flying disc and then bringing down his staff to shatter two more, before coming down right in front of the panel and putting his fist through it. _"Two down, six more to go!"_

Over the next few minutes, Sanza broke four more of the panels, only sustaining a glancing blow from an unblocked disc in the process. Now, he had just two more to go... both of them were toward the edges of the room, and Sanza, unable to spot them with his eyes, was having a bit of trouble locating them. In addition, the floor had become cluttered with the pieces of broken discs, and every so often, a painful sensation would shoot up through Sanza's foot as he stepped on one of them.

"Be careful!" yelled Terra, just after Sanza stepped on another ceramic fragment.

"...am I bleeding?" Sanza replied, stepping backward toward one side of the room while holding his staff in front of his body to defend himself from any more projectiles.

"No, but I don't like seeing you get hurt!" Terra shouted.

Sanza chuckled to himself, swinging his staff backwards to feel for another of the panels. When he felt his staff connect with something, he swung around and lunged for it, only to bring his fist straight into the wall of the dojo. He let out a scream and stumbled back, right into the path of a disc that was headed straight for his head.

"_Oh no, he's gonna take a direct hit!" _Horrified, Terra clasped her hands over her mouth and waited to hear the sickening sound of Sanza's head colliding with ceramic. Suddenly, at the very last moment, he reached up and snatched the disc out of the air, catching it in his right hand and causing Terra to let out a huge sigh of relief. "Sanza, that was _way _too close!"

"I've got it covered," he replied, tossing the disc aside and swinging out his staff again. This time, he hit something that he _knew _was bamboo... and brought his fight right through it, taking out the seventh panel and bringing the count of targets remaining down to one. _"All right, last one, where are you at?"_

"By the way," said Chu-hui, preparing to throw another of the discs at Sanza. The stack next to her was becoming very short... after the next one she threw, there would only be four left. "You must complete this task before I run out of things to throw at you. "

"Oh..." Sanza said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. "How many things do you have left?"

The disc came zooming at Sanza's head, followed by two more at his arms in rapid succession. He swung his staff, shattering them all... then received the True Master's answer.

"Two."

"_Shit..." _thought Sanza, frantically swinging his staff in a desperate attempt to locate the last panel. _"I should've known it would be low with my luck..."_

Terra wanted to tell Sanza exactly where the final panel was, but she remembered Chu-hui's lecture about why she shouldn't help Sanza... why 'helping' him wasn't actually helping him at all. She just hoped he could find it on his own before time ran out...

"Come on, Sanza, come on, Sanza, come on, Sanza..." Terra chanted quietly. She could see that Sanza was getting closer and closer to the last panel as he stumbled back toward the other side of the room... but she could also see Chu-hui's next to last disc being flung in the direction of Sanza's legs. _"Only one more to go...!"_

Sanza brought down his staff, shattering that disc... while at the same time, slowly backing toward the final panel. Suddenly, he heard it... the next disc, the last one Chu-hui had, coming right at him. His time was up.

"_Sanza...!!!"_

Sanza did two things. He swung his staff forward... and punched straight to the right, his fist flying through the air... straight toward the last of Chu-hui's bamboo panels.

The plate and the panel shattered at exactly the same instant... Sanza couldn't believe it, and neither could Terra. She let out a cheer and leapt into the air, running across the floor to embrace her victorious boyfriend. Clad in sneakers, her feet were protected from the pieces of shattered ceramic on the floor, but even if they weren't protected, she'd have run at full speed anyway.

"Whoa... wait until I get my blindfold off, why dont'cha..." said Sanza, slowly removing the blindfold from his eyes and tossing it away. "That way, I can see your pretty eyes..."

Terra giggled, her arms tightening around Sanza as Chu-hui walked toward the two of them, picking up Sanza's discarded staff and holding it at her side.

"Your training session for this morning is not over," said Chu-hui, gesturing for Sanza to follow her out of the temple. Reluctantly, Sanza released Terra from his arms and walked with his master, wondering what task she could possibly have for him to continue his warm-up.

"...can't I spend just a few more seconds hugging Terra?"

"You'll spend the rest of the morning running up and down this mountain," said Chu-hui. "No burdens, no handicaps, just a simple run, as fast as you can, up and down the mountain trail until lunchtime."

"_That seems easy enough," _thought Sanza, turning to Terra and waving at her. "I'll see you this afternoon, okay?"

"Wait, I'll come with you!" said Terra, running over to join Sanza on his run down the mountain. As she got to the doorway, Chu-hui thrust her arm out to block Terra's path.

"Not so fast," replied Chu-hui, turning Terra around and pointing to the thousands of tiny shards of shattered ceramic that littered the floor of the dojo. "While Sanza is out running, you're going to clean this mess up. I can't have my final spar with him on a floor that's covered in ceramic, now can I?"

As Terra emitted a disappointed groan, she turned back around to catch one last glimpse of Sanza... but he was already out of sight, having started his first run down the mountain trail. She turned back to Chu-hui, who no longer held a staff... instead, she held a broom and a dustpan, which she smiled as she handed over to the blonde geomancer.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room meditating," said Chu-hui, stepping around the shards of ceramic as she made her way to the back of the temple. With another groan and a sigh, Terra got down on her knees and began sweeping the tiny shards into her dustpan.

O-O-O

"So... if Sanza beats you, then-"

"His training will be complete," said Chu-hui. She was replying to a question from Terra as the two of them, along with Sanza, sat together and enjoyed a lunch of warm noodles in the temple kitchen.

As Sanza ate, he couldn't help but be excited about the prospect of his final test... a one-on-one battle with the True Master. He knew she would be holding back. Despite all the training he'd had, there was no way he could even get close to fighting Chu-hui at full strength... he probably wouldn't even be able to land a hit on her. But no matter how much of her skills she held back, Sanza knew he'd have to put up the fight of his life to best her.

"Can I watch, or-"

"Yes, if you promise not to interfere," said Chu-hui, not looking at Terra as she finished the last of her noodles.

But Terra wasn't going to interfere... she trusted Chu-hui not to hurt Sanza too badly, and trusted Sanza not to get himself hurt. She just hoped that he would be victorious... and that he could return to Jump City with his head held high, with the knowledge that he'd managed to complete Chu-hui's difficult training.

"I guess... I guess it's time then," said Sanza, setting his empty bowl of noodles aside and taking a deep breath. _"Everything I've learned... I finally get to put all of it to use... this is going to be tough, but if I can beat the True Master, then maybe... maybe I can defeat Slade, too."_

He stood up, looking down at Chu-hui from across the room. The master stood up a second later, sliding back the panel that led to the dojo.

"Are you sure that you are ready?"

"Yes, master," said Sanza, bowing to Chu-hui.

"Then let us begin."

O-O-O

The two warriors faced each other on opposite sides of the dojo... Sanza stood in front of the closed panel that led into the kitchen, while Chu-hui stood in front of the meditation room. Terra sat in front of the entrance, her legs folded beneath her as she watched her boyfriend and his teacher prepare for battle.

This was the moment that Sanza had spent the two most difficult weeks of his life training for... the final test, to see if he had really learned all he had set out to learn, to see if he had truly gained the skills that would be required of a real warrior.

They looked intently into each other's eyes... then, on Chu-hui's nod, the battle began. Sanza rushed forward at top speed, leaping high into the air and bringing his feet down at Chu-hui's head, aiming several rapid-fire kicks at her face. She reached up and blocked the kicks against the palms of her hands, then, after Sanza came down, struck him across the chest with a sweeping leg thrust that sent him flying across the room.

He came down in a standing position and saw Chu-hui coming forward, striking with multiple punches. He was able to block the first two, but the third struck him below his left shoulder, and was followed up by a palm to the face that knocked him back and clouded his vision.

"_She's moving way too quickly... I have to-"_

Not even giving Sanza time to think, Chu-hui kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying back even more. Sanza landed hard on his back near the far wall of the dojo, looking up and watching as Chu-hui slowly walked toward him.

"_Get up... Sanza... get up!" _Terra thought, watching and pleading for Sanza to stand and continue the fight.

His body tingling from the multiple blows, Sanza rose to his feet, crouching into a fighting stance and preparing for Chu-hui's next attack. He could see the wall behind him, close enough for him to kick off of... and decided to make that a big part of his next attack. He leapt back and pressed his foot against the wall, kicking off of it and leaping down at Chu-hui, aiming a high kick at the side of her head. Almost effortlessly, she grabbed him by the ankle and began to swing him down toward the ground... only to have Sanza kick out with his other foot, hitting C7hu-hui squarely in the nose. The blow knocked her away and caused her to release her grip on Sanza, who landed on his feet and rushed toward Chu-hui as she recovered from his kick. He scored a direct hit, punching her in the face and knocking her back into the wall.

"I won't give up..." said Sanza, beckoning for Chu-hui to come at him. She took a step forward, then vaulted herself into the air, somersaulting over Sanza's head and landing behind him. He turned to strike her, but she blocked his blow and swung her leg into his ankle, sweeping him to the ground. She then fell downward at him, punching at his head, but missing and striking the floor when Sanza rolled out of the way. _"That won't hit me either..."_

He stood up, and began exchanging a series of blows with Chu-hui, each attack by one being blocked by the other. The two leapt back and tried again, Sanza launching a punch that was blocked by Chu-hui's leg. The block was followed up by a kick that Sanza dodged by leaping over, and after doing so, he swept his leg through the air, striking at the side of Chu-hui's head with another sweeping kick. This kick was blocked, and the two leapt back from each other once again, staring across the room into each other's eyes with intense focus and concentration.

"Your quickness is uncanny..." said Chu-hui, "and I honestly did not expect to have to be as fast as I've been so far..."

Sanza smiled at his teacher's compliment, but just for a moment... he kept his focus the entire time, preparing for another attack. That attack did not happen. Instead, Chu-hui walked over to the wall and grabbed two bamboo poles, keeping one for herself and tossing the other to Sanza.

"If you can knock the weapon from my hand, I will declare you the winner," said Chu-hui, before sticking her staff into the floor and vaulting herself toward her opponent. She then swept downwards, swinging the end of the staff at Sanza's head. He raised the broadside of his own staff to block the blow, which was followed by a sweeping attack from the master as she swung her weapon across the ground to knock Sanza off his feet. He leapt over the staff and kicked Chu-hui in the face, which caused her to stumble back, slightly stunned by the blow.

"Looks like you almost dropped your weapon there, teacher."

Chu-hui did not respond. Instead, she swung her staff into Sanza's side with a great amount of force, hitting him hard enough to nearly bruise one of his ribs. The blow stunned him a great deal, causing him to let out a cry of pain and leaving him wide open for an attack right across his chin, a blow that felled him almost instantly. He hit the ground hard on his back, keeping his grip on the staff but almost passing out as a wave of pain swept through his chin.

"I see your arrogance still plagues you," said Chu-hui, walking toward the fallen Sanza and swinging her staff down at him several times. He was able to block each blow, but he was also unable to stand... and again, Terra was worried.

"_All you gotta do is knock that thing away from her and you win! How hard can that be...?"_

For Sanza, who could begin to feel that same lingering ache that had been bothering him ever since he started up the True Master's mountain, it seemed at the moment to be an impossible task. He blocked the last of the blows from Chu-hui's staff, pushing it back away from his body as he slowly came to his feet. He brought himself to one knee and swung the staff wildly, hitting Chu-hui's staff hard enough to knock one of her hands loose from it... but the other held firm, and she stumbled back, allowing Sanza to get up the rest of the way.

"I told you, I'm not gonna quit..." Sanza ran toward Chu-hui again, swinging his staff down at her legs, only to respond by having her strike a blow toward his head. That was exactly what Sanza wanted, and he put up his right arm to block the strike. He winced as the hard bamboo impacted against his skin, but he now had a clean shot at the rest of Chu-hui's body, and he took it, using his other hand to strike with all of his might against his opponent's knees. The strike was much more powerful and painful than Chu-hui had anticipated, and for the first time, Sanza could hear her cry out in pain. She kept her hands around her staff, but fell to her knees, prone and vulnerable to Sanza's next attack. He smiled, and with one hand, brought his staff down at her forehead. _"I win."_

Clenching her teeth, Chu-hui reached up and caught Sanza's staff with one hand... then, with one mighty tug, yanked it out of his grip and threw it away. Still holding her staff in her right hand, she thrust her fist forward and struck Sanza in the face with such a powerful blow that he was knocked onto his back... allowing Chu-hui the time she needed to get up.

"You did not take my staff from me," said Chu-hui, who tossed her own staff away. It bounced on the ground once before rolling over and coming to a stop next to Sanza's. "We will now go back to fighting with fists and feet."

Sanza reached up to his face and wiped a trickle of blood from his right nostril... the punch had come completely by surprise, and he thought for a moment that he could see stars in front of his face. Groaning, Sanza climbed to his feet and faced down his opponent. The battle wasn't over yet... not even close.

This time, Sanza would wait for Chu-hui to come to him... and she did, throwing herself at the ground before using her hands to vault back up, launching into a dropkick aimed directly at Sanza's head. He jumped out of the way, only to have Chu-hui hit the ground behind him and immediately come at him again, this time kicking at his stomach. He reached out and grabbed her ankle, spinning her around and tossing her out... and again she hit the ground and came right back up with another incredibly fast kick.

"_I can't believe it, it's like she's rubber or something...!" _Sanza blocked Chu-hui's kick against his palm, then leapt back and lunged forward with a punch that Chu-hui parried with her forearm. _"At least I stopped her from bouncing around so much... now what?"_

The master aimed downward with a chop at one of Sanza's knees. He stepped to the side, then attempted to trip her up by swinging forward the leg he'd just moved. She responded by bringing his elbow down into Sanza's thigh, then, when he fell forward, surging toward him with an uppercut that caught him right below the chin. Sanza found himself thrown into the air, giving Chu-hui more than enough time to leap above him and kick him in the chest with both feet, bringing him to the ground, his back slamming into the straw floor.

"SANZA!!!" Terra watched the entire spectacle, grimacing as Sanza impacted the floor with a loud gasp, then closed his eyes. _"She knocked him out... it's over..."_

But Sanza wasn't beaten yet... he twitched a few times before rolling out of the way to avoid a finishing punch aimed at his head. Then, he picked himself up, still breathing slowly as he stepped back and tried to think about his next course of action.

"_I really wasn't expecting that... my back hurts, my chest hurts... everything hurts..." _Sanza pulled his arms in front of his body, clenching his fists and entering into a defensive stance. Chu-hui was relentless, surging forward with a series of furious punches and kicks that had Sanza reeling. He blocked them all, but now found himself pushed back toward one of the walls of the dojo, unable to do anything but defend against the relentless assault.

Finally, Chu-hui thrust her right arm forward, aiming her palm at the center of Sanza's chest. He crossed his arms, catching her wrist and blocking her strike just a half-inch away from impact. He then lifted up his leg and aimed a kick at her gut, but she brought up her other arm and blocked it, grabbing Sanza's ankle and trying to pull him off of his feet.

"You have compromised your position severely," said Chu-hui, "you cannot move your arms and one of your legs is at my mercy."

"Then why... can't... you... finish me off...?" said Sanza, trying to get leverage by using his crossed arms to push down Chu-hui's right hand, which remained poised to strike at his chest. He smiled as a bead of sweat trickled down his face, knowing that he wasn't at nearly as much of a disadvantage as his teacher seemed to be implying. "Maybe... you're the one... who's compromised... your position..."

"Look at all the effort it's taking you to maintain this stance," Chu-hui replied, twisting Sanza's right ankle slightly in her tight grip. She pushed her arm forward, but Sanza's crossed arms held it firm, and she was only able to move a fraction of an inch toward him. "I could knock you over in a second."

"Then do it!"

Pushing forward, Chu-hui lifted Sanza's leg up even further, twisting it more and hoping that the leverage she had would force his other foot up and bring him down. Instead, it gave Sanza the chance to slip out, uncrossing his arms and ducking to the ground. In that same instant, he rolled his right leg out of Chu-hui's grasp, sliding between her legs and getting up behind her. He grabbed the back of her head and slammed her face into the wall at full-force, which was enough of a blow to stun her... then lifted her up and suplexed her behind him, slamming her head and back into the ground.

Chu-hui gasped from the impact of the suplex, and when she blinked her eyes again, she saw Sanza standing over her, looking down with a smile on his face.

"_That was amazing, I've never seen anyone move that fast..." _As Terra watched in awe, she wondered if Sanza had in fact been victorious... and Sanza wondered that as well, looking down at Chu-hui and preparing to block any strike that she made at him from the ground.

She lay there on the floor of the dojo for several seconds, looking deeply into Sanza's eyes, reading his expression with intense scrutiny. He did look arrogant, he did have his guard down... or did he? She looked deeper... saw him ready to strike even in what was seemingly victory... he wasn't ready to stop fighting, not yet.

But Chu-hui had seen enough, and her wrinkled lips curved into a smile. She began to laugh for several seconds as Sanza wondered what this could possibly mean. Had he won? Was his long ordeal finally over, two weeks of intense training finally at an end?

"...you are ready," she said, reaching up with her hand and allowing Sanza to help her up from the ground. Smiling, he pulled her up... the master could sense the trembling in her student's hand as he helped her, an excitement that she knew all too well. "Your training is complete."

"YES!" shouted Sanza, pumping his fists into the air, lost in the thrill of the moment. He almost jumped for joy... but realizing that he might be forgetting himself, he turned and bowed quickly to Chu-hui. "Thank you, mas-"

"No, no, enjoy your moment," she said happily, waving Sanza off and shaking her head. "You have earned it... I've never seen anyone improve so quickly, though I don't remember teaching you that last move..."

"Uhhhh... professional wrestling," Sanza replied nervously, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "It's... not really real, but-"

"Ohhhh... I've seen _that _before, some of the kids in the village watch it on TV," said Chu-hui, laughing to herself. When Sanza gave her a look of surprise, she laughed again. "There's one TV in the village, they got it a few years ago from some charity organization and they haven't been the same since. Never seen those kids so entranced by anything in my life, it's like someone cast a spell on 'em or something."

"Uhhhh..." Sanza was dumbstruck, was Chu-hui actually... opening up to him? _"Well, now that the training's over, I guess she can afford to be a bit more playful, I mean..."_

Terra ran over to Sanza and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him several times on the cheek before he turned his head and she was able to kiss him on the lips.

"Congratulations, that was awesome! So... I guess we can go home now, or-"

Sanza was ecstatic that he'd completed the training... two weeks of busting his butt, and finally, all of it was over. He could go back home, return to a normal life... but for some reason, he didn't want to leave. Not just yet. In all of his time on the mountain, he'd never gotten to enjoy it for what he was, save for the few times when he'd been allowed to take a break, or when he was sitting in the hot spring. He was on a mountain in China, one of the most beautiful places in the world... and because he'd finished up his training rather early on the last day, he figured he'd earned himself at least a few hours to enjoy the scenery.

And who better to enjoy it with than his beloved Terra?

"Terra, would you mind if we... stayed here on the mountain? Just until midnight..."

"But... I mean, I don't mind, but if we don't leave until midnight, you won't get back home until like... Monday afternoon. You'll miss a day of school!"

Terra blinked several times, shaking her head, closing her eyes, and thinking the exact same thing that her boyfriend was about to verbalize.

"You've been spending _way _too much time with my mother, Terra."

"You know, it's no secret that boys tend to fall for girls who remind them of their mothers," commented Chu-hui before Terra could respond. The remark caused both Sanza and Terra to blush intensely, and Chu-hui started laughing again. "But what would I know, I'm not a boy."

Chu-hui walked over to her room, sliding open the panel and closing it behind her... leaving Sanza and Terra alone together in the dojo.

"Do I... remind you of your mom?" asked Terra, still blushing a bit as Sanza turned slightly away.

"Well, uh... you're both... really brave... and really nice..." Sanza was having a tough time speaking as he thought of the similarities between Terra and his mother... and as it turned out, there tended to be quite a bit of them. "Hey, did I ever tell you about how my mom and dad met?"

"No... was it in high school, or-"

"No, it was while my mom was in college... you're not gonna believe it, it's really exciting..."

As Sanza continued to talk, relating the story of how his mother and father met, he took Terra's hands in hers, the fingers of his right hand interlacing with the fingers of her left. They strolled out the front door of the temple together, and spent the rest of the afternoon in peaceful bliss, strolling down the mountain path and admiring the beautiful scenery around them. By the time they returned for supper, the sun was beginning to set... in a few hours, the two of them would be back in Jump City.

O-O-O

And back in Jump City, Robin was staring at a computer screen, wondering exactly where Slade would be going on a plane.

"_...probably to his next target," _thought the Boy Wonder. He hadn't slept in 36 hours, and was in a near-stupor, typing slowly on the keyboard of his laptop as he sat in the darkness of his room. "Can't... stay awake..."

As Robin continued typing, he stumbled onto a government website that showed the outgoing flight paths of every airplane that took off from the West Coast in the past twelve hours.

One of the flight paths was particularly striking. It originated from Jump City, the exact spot where Robin and the other Titans had found Slade's huge factory... and the airstrip-looking structure within. The flight path charted the plane west across the city, and then into the ocean... Robin tracked the path, it spanned the entire Pacific Ocean, all the way to what looked like a mountainous area in central China.

Robin's eyes widened as he put two and two together. He started to gasp, but it was at that moment that his lack of sleep finally caught up with him... and he fell face-first onto the keyboard of his computer, his nose hitting the laptop's power switch and holding it down.

Slade's flight path, and his horrific intentions, were gone from Robin's mind and from any chances of the Titans finding them.

O-O-O

It was evening at Chu-hui's mountain shrine, and after Sanza and Terra returned from their nature walk, a feast awaited them, prepared by the True Master herself as a reward for all of Sanza's diligent training.

After the feast, Sanza stepped outside... he walked back behind the mountain temple, wanting to enjoy his final hours away from home meditating in a smaller shrine a few hundred feet away. Terra and Chu-hui remained near the temple, where they washed the soiled dishes inside a large, water-filled bucket... and at the same time, got to know each other a lot better.

"I love Sanza," said Terra. "I'd follow him to the ends of the Earth..."

Chu-hui smiled at Terra's words, remembering her own formative teenage years... as a young girl living in Manchuria at the time of the 1937 Japanese invasion, she'd witnessed her family's deaths in the horrific Rape of Nanking. After barely escaping with her life, she fled across China, into the small villages in the mountains, far away from the reach of the Japanese empire. It was there, fueled by a desire to avenge the deaths of her family, that she began to train in the martial arts. During the latter part of her training, she meditated in a sacred mountain shrine... and it was there that she learned to shed all her desire for revenge, to lose all of her anger and her hate... and once she did that, she was able to unlock her true potential as a warrior, and become one of the greatest martial artists on the face of the Earth.

It was after Chu-hui completed her training, after the end of the war that she met the man who would seemingly become the love of her life. The two of them spent every day together, walking through the mountains and the forests, sparring with one another, and building a beautiful temple... the same temple that Chu-hui called home to that very day. Though her love met a tragic end at the hands of a pack of roving ninjas, the master still had fond memories of the two years she spent together with her first love... and because she'd learned to shed her anger, she did not grieve over his passing... she was grateful for the love she was able to experience.

She told all of this to Terra, who listened with captivation at Chu-hui's life story... one that in some ways, mirrored her own... though she hoped that she wouldn't lose Sanza the same way Chu-hui lost her beloved.

"I know it's been a rough few days between us, I know you conduct your training a lot better when you don't have any distractions..."

"I was wrong about you, though," said Chu-hui, smiling as she washed the last of the plates from dinner. "You're a fine girl, you're just... perhaps a bit too excitable."

"I see," Terra replied, looking down into the bucket and dropping the glass cup that she was drying off. "Oh... shoot!"

"See what I mean? No worries, just pick it up and dry it off again," Chu-hui said reaching into the bucket and fishing out the cup, then picking up a towel and drying it off herself. "When Robin came here, I told him that he takes things way too seriously... you're a bit like him, with the volume turned _way _up."

Terra giggled a bit, she appreciated the comparison to Robin, but... she knew she wasn't nearly as serious at fighting crime as he was. If she was, she never would've become Slade's apprentice...

"...can I ask you something?" Terra turned to Chu-hui. "I know that when I came up the mountain, I... sort of cheated. I used my powers, and I didn't climb up the mountain the way I was supposed to."

Chu-hui looked into Terra's eyes, beginning to get an idea of exactly what the girl was going to ask her.

"Can I come back in a few months? After Slade's beaten, after the city's safe again, after I'm ready... I'd like to get some training from you, just like Sanza did. I wouldn't use my powers, I just... I want to be a better fighter at hand-to-hand stuff, you know?

"Hmmm... well, you saw what Sanza went through, are you sure you'd be prepared for-"

"Oh, I'd do my best! I promise I would, please just give me a chance...!"

Chu-hui thought for a few moments... then gave Terra the answer she wanted to hear.

"If you can survive the trials of the mountain without using your powers, I will train you."

"...thank you!" said Terra excitedly, wrapping her arms around Chu-hui in a tight hug. Chu-hui allowed Terra to hug her, waiting until the girl put her down a few seconds later to say anything else.

"There will be none of that during your training," said Chu-hui, her voice becoming much sterner for a brief moment. Terra nodded, then the two of them began laughing to themselves, sharing a friendly moment together as they finished washing the rest of the dishes.

Terra had started out not liking Chu-hui at all... but after seeing just how strong she'd made Sanza, she couldn't help but want to get that same strength for herself... so that even if she couldn't control her powers for some reason, she'd never feel weak again.

"_Thank you, True Master... thank you so much for making Sanza stronger."_

O-O-O

Midnight was approaching... the mountain was quiet. The wind was completely still, and the moon was completely gone from the clear sky. It was a new moon... and a new threat loomed on the horizon.

Slade was on the mountain, ascending the path toward Chu-hui's temple with a cold expression in his narrowed eye. He hadn't cheated, hadn't taken a single shortcut to reach the peak... he'd gone through the trials, defeated each of the guardians... and after defeating them, he had killed them. The blood of the bear, the snake, the monkey... the blood stained his armor... the stench of death was upon him.

"_I do not care how strong you have become... if you will not be my apprentice, you will be the first to die."_

Slade was on a mission. He would destroy Sanza and anyone who got in his way... including Terra, who he knew had come to spend the rest of the week with her beloved.

"_And you, Terra, you traitorous whore... I will kill you as well, and I will make Sanza watch. Or perhaps I shall make you watch me kill him... whoever stands up to me first, I will destroy."_

Slade stood facing the front door of the temple. He gripped the door handle tightly...for Sanza Salazar, there would be no escape... there would be no mercy.


	21. At The Zenith Of Pain

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

The inside of the temple was lit only by a few candles lining the walls. As Slade entered, he could see a small silhouette in the darkness. Through the dim light, he could make out a set of eyes staring straight into his own... this wasn't the person he'd expected, but he was prepared to do battle with her anyway.

"You must be Slade," said Chu-hui, her voice filled with calm intensity.

Somehow, she could already visualize Slade's grim path up the mountain... his defeat and subsequent slayings of the three guardians... who were also Chu-hui's best friends. Her fists clenched as the smell of their blood wafted over to her nose... she held back her tears of grief, there would be time for them later.

"And you must be the woman who trained Robin so very well... he's improved so much since our first battles."

Slade knew his mission, he knew it well... but he wasn't above having a bit of fun first. He would talk with Chu-hui as long as it amused him... and he could see that his words were causing her more and more pain.

"I assume you have come to kill my latest pupil... but he is not here."

"He's still on this mountain, don't try to fool me."

"You won't get to him," Chu-hui stated, crouching into a fighting stance and preparing for any attack that Slade could possibly throw at her. Unlike when she was training Sanza, she wouldn't be holding back... not even a tiny bit. She'd be giving her all right from the start... she knew that the lives of her guests depended on it. "Unless you can go through me."

"That's exactly what I was planning to do," Slade calmly replied, tossing away a small bag of equipment he'd brought with him up the mountain. He wouldn't need any of it to beat Chu-hui... he didn't care how much of a master she was. "And after I deal with you, Sanza and Terra will be all mine."

"You will _not _deal with me."

With incredible, almost inhuman speed, Chu-hui somersaulted forward several times, spanning the length of the dojo in barely more than a second. She issued forth a series of kicks that impacted Slade's head and chest, throwing him back hard against the temple doors. After she came back down, she launched her fist straight into Slade's gut, then lifted her arm upward, undercutting him below the chin and launching him nearly a foot into the air.

As Slade was coming down from the blow, he kicked at the center of Chu-hui's face, only to have the master easily block it and punch Slade again as soon as his other foot hit the ground. The punch imparted enough force to bend the front doors of the temple as Slade was thrown against them, and easily caused him to lose his footing, falling into a slumped position against the doors and letting out a groan.

"You can leave now, or I will throw you off the mountain myself," said Chu-hui, just before Slade struck her in the face with a right hook, seemingly out of nowhere. The punch threw the master away from Slade long enough to allow him to stand back up, rolling his head to the left before returning it to its normal position.

"You may be quick, but I can assure you that it will take more than a few fancy moves to stop me," Slade said coldly, walking toward Chu-hui as if the first series of blows he'd took had never happened at all. The master stood up and wiped her lip, which was still stinging from the punch she'd sustained earlier. Then, she leapt back, allowing Slade to take another step closer before leaping into the air and aiming a flying kick at Slade's chest. Slade responded by surging forward with another powerful punch, and the two blows landed simultaneously, throwing both combatants back.

Chu-hui landed on her feet, while Slade stumbled backward and nearly lost his footing, leaving him open to another leaping kick to the chest. This time, Slade was unable to counter, and was sent reeling again, falling hard onto his back. Chu-hui tried to capitalize by throwing her fist down for a punch at her prone opponent, but Slade was able to roll out of the way just in time, sliding his leg outward and hitting Chu-hui in the back of the knee, bringing her to the floor. The two stood up at the same time, throwing several punches and kicks at each other that were either dodged or blocked. Finally, Chu-hui came in with a lightning-quick punch to the side of Slade's head, and he found himself knocked back again.

Slade was undeterred, and he lunged forward with another punch, only to watch as Chu-hui slid to the floor, ducking under the punch and between Slade's legs. She got to her feet and continued forward, running up the wall behind Slade as he turned around and watched in stunned disbelief.

"_That's impossible..." _Slade thought, watching as Chu-hui took four long strides up the wall, then walked upside down on the ceiling for two more steps before leaping off and swinging her body around. Slade turned once more, right into the path of a spinning kick that knocked him back into the wall that Chu-hui had just scaled. "Unnngh!!"

The master wasn't done yet. As Slade languished with his back to the wall, Chu-hui thrust her right palm forward, sending out a wave of concentrated energy that slammed into her opponent with more force than a speeding truck. Slade could feel the air being knocked out of his body as the wall behind him buckled, nearly giving way. The attack was strong enough to crush the chest cavity of a normal man, but Slade, protected by both his armor and his healing factor, was mostly unharmed... though he was clearly stunned, and he fell to one knee, trying to catch his breath.

"_It would seem... that I've underestimated this woman..." _thought Slade, looking up just in time to see Chu-hui kicking up at his throat. He reached out and grabbed her foot, stopping it just three inches from impact. _"No more games..."_

Taking Chu-hui's ankle with both hands, he swung the woman around, bringing her into the nearly wall. Before she slammed into it, she placed her left foot against the wall, kicking out of Slade's grasp and catapulting herself behind him. Thinking that he was about to turn and faced her, she threw her right fist forward, only to have Slade leap back over her head with equal dexterity, landing behind her and kicking at the small of Chu-hui's back. She leapt over Slade again, dodging the kick and putting herself behind him once more, then took two more steps back in anticipation of him trying to get behind her again.

Instead of doing this, Slade turned around, kicking right at Chu-hui's face. She grabbed for his foot, only to have him stop his kick at the last moment and lower his right leg to the ground. As soon as he'd done that, he kicked forward with his left foot, hitting Chu-hui right across the bridge of her nose and knocking her onto her back.

"Don't tell me," said Chu-hui, standing up to face Slade once more. "You were holding back before."

"Yes, I admit that it's difficult for me to believe that an old woman such as yourself could be so skilled at martial arts... but it is not a mistake I'll make again."

The two were now standing in the center of the dojo, having already severely dented the wall near the front doors of the temple during their fight. Slade had suffered the bulk of the blows, but seemed to be completely unharmed... while Chu-hui's face was slightly bruised, mostly near the left side of her lip. Neither of the two had broken a sweat... and though Slade didn't look it, he was beginning to get a bit uneasy.

"So, are you going to attack me again?" Chu-hui asked.

"I think you should go first..."

"Very well."

Chu-hui bent her knees outward, crouching down and appearing as if she was going to take a forward leap. As Slade prepared himself for another kick, he saw his opponent rocket straight up into the air, flipping her body around once and planting her feet right onto the ceiling before coming back down at an angle, both of her palms extended. She slammed into Slade's chest with prodigious force, tackling him instantly to the ground and positioning her knees on his chest. With all the wind knocked out of him again, Slade was unable to defend himself as blow after blow rained down on his face, a series of bruising punches that made him more disoriented than ever. He could feel the metal of his mask begin to distort under the pressure of each blow, and finally, a punch came down and made a tiny crack in the mask, right beside Slade's right eye. Before another punch could come in, he reached up and grabbed Chu-hui by the wrist.

"That will be _quite _enough," said Slade, looking into Chu-hui's eyes.

With surprising strength, the master twisted her captive arm, bending Slade's own right arm further and further back, until the pressure was entirely reversed and Slade found himself on the verge of having a dislocated shoulder. He twisted onto his stomach, but this didn't help, and only gave Chu-hui more and more leverage.

Gritting his teeth under the mask, Slade threw back his left arm, catching Chu-hui with a vicious elbow that forced her to release her grip on his right wrist. As she flew back and impacted the dojo floor, Slade stood up and rolled his right arm around, quickly dulling the pain in his joints. As Slade was recovering yet again, Chu-hui stood up, taking a few deep breaths and wiping the first few beads of sweat from her brow. It had taken a great deal of effort to keep Slade's powerful arm locked in a deathgrip, and consequentially, she'd been unable to keep herself from being knocked off of him.

"_He recovers so quickly from my attacks... it's difficult to believe that he's human... he is a monster..."_

The master had not been given even a moment to grieve for her fallen friends, the guardians of the mountain... she'd blocked their memory completely out of her mind, wanting only to focus on the battle ahead. The best way for her to avenge them would be to defeat Slade in battle... but this was quickly becoming a daunting proposition, and the normally supremely confident Chu-hui was becoming a bit worried.

"_I must end this now," _said Chu-hui, turning back toward her opponent and looking up into his face.

"Starting to feel the pressure? It's only natural to be afraid... you have bitten off more than you can chew."

"I do not fear evil, and I do not fear you," Chu-hui replied, the strength returning to her voice. "And I will not allow your plans to succeed."

The two combatants rushed each other again, and Chu-hui went right to work, focusing up her chi into her palm so that she could strike at Slade with another energy attack. Slade could see it coming, and thrust out his own palm to block, absorbing most of the energy of the blow and allowing the rest of his body to escape with only a minor buffeting. He then kicked forward at Chu-hui, who blocked the blow with her forearm, then leapt into the air and threw three fast kicks at Slade's face. He moved his head back, narrowly avoiding all three kicks... but was unable to avoid the punch that Chu-hui threw into his gut as soon as she came down. The punch caused Slade to stumble back again, and enabled Chu-hui to launch another chi strike, this time with both hands.

The energy rushed toward Slade in a wave, but instead of raising his arms to block, he put his head down and charged straight through it, letting out a loud scream and throwing back his arms. The violent sonic wave caused by the force of the repelled attack stunned Chu-hui, deafening her for a moment and giving Slade the time he needed to headbutt her in the face. The headbutt, combined with the force of the energy attack, sent Chu-hui flying. She was knocked clear across to the back of the dojo, where she slammed into the wooden weapons rack, smashing it to pieces and sending multiple staves falling to the floor.

"Once I experienced the attack a few times, it wasn't hard to isolate the resonant frequency of your energy aura," stated Slade. The revelation that he could analyze energy auras simply by feeling a chi attack was a bit of a shock to Chu-hui... but she didn't show it. Instead, she calmly picked up one of the staves, holding it out in front of her body. "Ahhh... so, you want to fight that way, do you?"

Slade reached behind his back and produced a small metal stick... which quickly extended to the length of the bamboo staff that Chu-hui was holding in her hand. He then crouched down, holding the staff behind him in one hand and beckoning the master toward him with the other.

She complied without hesitation, rushing forward and planting the staff into the ground, then using it to vault into the air and bring the weapon down at Slade's head. He parried with the metal staff before sweeping it outward in a quick motion at his opponent's chest. Chu-hui swung her weapon at the same time, and the two staves collided, making a loud cracking noise as metal and bamboo smacked together.

"You're so predictable," said Chu-hui, her voice lined with muted rage.

"So are you..." Slade replied, just before launching a kick at the bridge of Chu-hui's nose, right where another kick of his had impacted earlier. The kick caught Chu-hui off guard, knocking her back and allowing Slade to bring the end of his staff right into her stomach. He then tossed his own staff away and grabbed Chu-hui's, trying to rip it from her hands but being unable to do so. He tugged as hard as he could, but despite sustaining several devastating blows, Chu-hui's grip was as strong as ever. "How...?"

"I don't think about the pain," said Chu-hui, smiling as a trickle of blood slowly made its way down her right nostril. Slade released his grip on her staff, but was unable to do anything else as she brought the staff up across his head and chest, knocking him away several feet and putting him back on the floor.

Slade lay on his side for a few moments... he could feel a lingering pain throughout most of his upper body, but he put all of that at the back of his mind as he looked up at Chu-hui. Her nose was bleeding... he'd struck quite a potent blow, and though it didn't diminish her ability to fight him, he knew that she was vulnerable. There were two bruises on her face, the one he'd caused near the beginning of the fight, and another, much more recent one, right below her left eye.

"_You will fall soon enough..." _He began to stood up again, pulling himself off of the floor as Chu-hui watched, holding her staff at her side. _"Your confidence will be your downfall."_

Chu-hui knew she'd taken a beating before she'd been able to knock Slade away... though she was clearly quicker and more skilled than he was, he seemed to be shrugging off most of her blows... and now she could feel exhaustion beginning to creep in. She knew she couldn't keep fighting at this level forever. But despite that, she knew that she had the stamina and the willpower to keep fighting more than long enough to put Slade down. It would be a long fight, but she was used to hard work... nothing that was worth accomplishing ever came easy.

As Slade began to back toward his discarded staff, Chu-hui leapt at him again, striking with several quick, sweeping blows. He blocked several of the blows against his forearm, feeling a sharp sting as the bamboo made contacted with his lightly-armored flesh. When Chu-hui tried to hit him under the throat with the broad side of the staff, Slade brought up his foot, pushing back against the weapon before shoving out his leg with all of his strength, knocking Chu-hui off balance. This gave him enough time to run back and grab his staff... then run back forward to strike down with a furious blow.

The two warriors screamed as their weapons collided once more, then began a brief war of attrition, in which both of them attempted to push their staff back toward the other. When that didn't work, they leapt away from one another and came forward again, swinging away and parrying each other's blows. They repeated this two more times, striking, leaping in another direction, then striking again, with neither of them able to exploit any weakness in the other.

"We are both equal in strength and speed," rasped Slade, looking into Chu-hui's eyes as he pushed his staff against her own with all of his might.

"That is a lie," Chu-hui replied, blocking Slade's increasingly furious efforts to make an attack on her. "But this is getting us nowhere..."

The two looked into each other's eyes for a single moment, both of them deciding simultaneously to abandon their weapons. They threw their staves aside and lunged at one another, grabbing each other's hands and pushing back and forth. Slade pushed first, forcing Chu-hui three steps back before she was able to gain a foothold. She gritted her teeth and pushed forward, and Slade was forced back two steps before he was able to maintain his position and stand his ground. The two remained locked in place, continuing to stare each other down, pushing back and forth but not budging even a single inch.

"You are... losing your strength..." Slade said, his own voice clearly displaying a great dear of exertion.

"Not as fast as you are losing yours..." Chu-hui replied, much more calmly, her voice straining a great deal less than Slade's was. She pushed forward again, forcing Slade back half a step before stopping in mid-stride and beginning to concentrate her energy again. _"If I can land a strong blow now, I'll be able to weaken him for the rest of the fight... I must be careful, I must not strike until I have a clear opening..."_

As Chu-hui focused more and more of her energy into her limbs and diverted it away from the center of her body, she allowed Slade to push her back again... her eyes remained locked on his, and her grip on his hands became even tighter.

He looked back at her, narrowing his eyes and awaiting her next attack... he anticipated it, and remained entirely focused on diverting the energy of her next strike.

"_She's going to move quickly... which means my reaction will have to be just as quick."_

He studied her eyes, her expression, everything about Chu-hui that indicated that she was preparing to attack. He was awaiting a tell... a single, solitary moment when her focus changed, when her attention became diverted, when the aura she was giving off shifted ever so slightly...

Finally, that moment came. Chu-hui's grip on Slade's hands loosened, and she immediately pushed a wave of concentrated chi energy outward from her body. Slade responded by thrusting out his right arm and launching a concussive energy blast that bent the air around the front of Chu-hui's attack, piercing through it and slamming into her chest, as well as diverting the rest of the energy from Chu-hui's wave around to the extremities of Slade's body.

The result was that both fighters were blasted back... Chu-hui was jettisoned straight back into the far wall, while Slade was able to somersault backward, counteracting the force of the momentum and landing on his feet. A moment later, Chu-hui impacted the wall, denting it and sliding downward, groaning in pain. She'd suffered her first significant blow of the fight... and it had been a doozy.

"_How could he have overpowered my energy attack...?" _Chu-hui stood up slowly, hunched over and rubbing the small of her back, which had suffered the brunt of the impact from the wall. As she stood, Slade could see that her normally calm demeanor had faded... she looked bewildered, and for a moment, looked as if she'd forgotten where she was entirely. She looked over at Slade, who was standing about fifteen feet away, his arms across his chest. "A lucky strike..."

"There was nothing lucky about it," Slade stated. "I found an opening, and I exploited it."

Slade still looked completely unharmed, though Chu-hui was sure that there would be some bruises behind the costume... she was completely unaware of Slade's healing factor, and could not believe that after expending so much energy, he was standing before her as if he'd just walked through the door.

Still, Chu-hui was undaunted. As durable as Slade was, she was still faster, and she still had experience on her side. Slade was expending too much power far too quickly... soon, he would have a devastating drop-off... and he would be completely at the master's mercy.

"You must be tired by now... let's see how you respond to this!" Chu-hui shouted, leaping back and planting both of her feet into the wall, then jettisoning herself forward across the room. Surprised by his opponent's speed, Slade was still able to lift up his right arm, preparing to slam it into Chu-hui's face as she flew across the room. She continued to fly forward, and instead of colliding with Slade's arm, she grabbed it with both hands and held onto it like a monkey, using it to swing herself around and kick Slade in the face. She swung herself around two more times, each rotation faster than the one before it, before finally flipping herself off of Slade and landing in front of him as he shook off the kicks.

"_This ends now!" _thought Slade. As Chu-hui tried to ram her fist into his gut, he threw his own fist forward, striking her across the face and knocking her away. He then attempted to kick Chu-hui, but she blocked the kick against the side of her right leg, then attempted a kick of her own with her left, which Slade blocked with a second kick. Once again, it was a stalemate, and the master and the mastermind both leapt back, each of them looking for the opportunity to make another strike.

They rushed forward at each other again, launching into a flurry of punches right at the other's face. As Slade punched at Chu-hui's forehead, she raised her arm to block and push Slade's fist aside, then turned her fist forward and struck at Slade's throat. Her punch was stopped by Slade's hand, clasping tightly around hers before going for a headbutt that Chu-hui avoided by swinging her head just to the side, then bringing up her right arm again and backhanding Slade in the middle of his face, knocking him back. This gave Chu-hui a few seconds to breathe, and she did just that, taking in several quick, shallow breaths, hunched over slightly as she did so. Slade was breathing a bit slower, and he quickly took note of his opponent's fatigue, realizing that with every blow she struck, she lost a bit more of her energy... already she'd slowed down to Slade's pace, and now, Slade noticed that his blows were coming in just a bit faster than hers.

"_You're playing right into my hand... keep coming, keep fighting... we'll see just how long you can keep this up."_

Chu-hui looked back up at Slade, who had bent over slightly to put himself closer to her level... was he taunting her, or was he just getting close enough so he could hear her speak? It didn't matter... she wasn't the least bit interested in having a conversation with Slade. He had to pay for killing her friends... for defiling her sacred mountain temple with his evil intentions.

Even if it took every ounce of strength in the True Master's body, she would never let Slade win... she would destroy him even if it killed her.

"What are you waiting for...?" asked Chu-hui.

"For you to catch your breath," Slade replied, before charging forward with a brutal kick that hit Chu-hui in the side of the head, sending her flying back across the room. She flipped over once, landing on her feet in a position not unlike the stance taken by a runner before the start of a race. She continued looking straight forward and slightly up, rubbing the side of her now-bruised face.

"Are you sure you weren't just waiting until you caught your own?"

Chu-hui ran toward Slade at top speed, leaping up at him with a flying kick that hit him right in the chest. The kick sent Slade back into the temple doors again, and he bounced off of them with a loud shout before falling onto his face on the floor, groaning in pain.

"You didn't even try to dodge that attack," said Chu-hui, waiting for Slade to stand before coming at him again. She jumped into the air and spun around, aiming another kick at Slade, this time at his face. He reached up and blocked the kick with one hand before roughly shoving Chu-hui away, watching as she stumbled back for a moment before regaining her footing and taking yet another martial arts stance. _"What is he doing now?"_

Slade knew that in Chu-hui's haste to bring an end to the fight, she would start acting out in desperation, using flashy attacks that expended a great deal of her remaining energy. All he would have to do to win the fight would be to weather the storm of her attacks, taking as little damage as possible while still retaining enough energy to fight Sanza, and possibly Terra, should she happen to show up.

"_I must calm myself..." _thought Chu-hui, taking a step back and refocusing her energy. She began to concentrate, blocking out all of the negative emotion, all of the anger, the grief, and even the fear out of her mind. _"If I am to wear him down, I must not use up energy on knockout blows... I must be slow and steady, like the flow of a mighty river... I must not worry about what could happen if I lose, because I will not lose. I will win."_

"Are you praying for strength?" Slade taunted, trying to intimidate Chu-hui and bring her negative emotions to the surface. "It won't help you now... you will be defeated, and you will die."

Chu-hui stood her ground, her eyes narrowing and her wrinkled face showing a stern, resolute expression. She stepped forward toward Slade and swept out her arm, aiming a chop at his chest that he blocked against his wrist. She chopped at him again, this time aiming for his waist... Slade dodged to the side and moved back, lifting up his elbow and bringing it down between Chu-hui's shoulders... but she turned and rolled out of the way just in time, bringing her knee up into Slade's gut and forcing him to back off again.

Regaining her speed and her stamina, Chu-hui stepped forward and battered Slade with two strong punches, once in the chest and once in the face. Again, Slade stumbled back, and the master continued her assault, leaping back into the doors and kicking off of them, flipping around and bringing her feet into Slade's chest. After knocking Slade back, she landed on the ground and stepped forward... only to have to take another deep breath as she did. She could feel a great pain in her limbs, but quickly waved it off by shaking her head.

"_I'm still losing energy..." _thought Chu-hui, looking up and seeing Slade rushing straight toward her. She crossed her arms in front of her body in the shape of an X as Slade brought down his fist... she blocked his blow, but was knocked back several feet towards the door... and her arms throbbed where Slade's fist had impacted. _"I have to concentrate!"_

The calmness was once again gone from Chu-hui's face, and Slade could see that she was continuing to lose her strength, despite all the steps she took to focus it.

"I guess that no matter how hard you train, sometimes you're just too old to keep fighting..." Slade walked toward Chu-hui again, his voice completely calm, even beginning to display a hint of victorious arrogance. The master stood her ground, thrusting out her palms and looking right into Slade's eyes.

"With age comes experience..." Chu-hui replied, "and besides, I have a feeling you're not too much of a spring chicken yourself."

Slade smirked beneath his mask, somewhat amused by the fact that the old master could tell, even with his face completely concealed, that he wasn't nearly as young as he used to be... though he was still younger than her by almost a generation.

"You can have all the experience in the world, but if you lack the strength, you will not win."

By now, Slade was standing right in front of Chu-hui, in clear striking distance... and she was more than ready. She thrust out her palms, blasting Slade with a concentrated wave of chi energy... but he stood his ground, even as he was knocked back a few inches... he put his arms up to deflect the blow, and soon, Chu-hui could no longer sustain the assault. She dropped her arms, preparing to defend herself against Slade's next attack... which came in the form of a devastating punch that struck her right in the forehead.

The blow came in too fast for even the master to defend herself, and she was immediately thrown back against the doors with such force that they were nearly thrown open. Slade's steel-lined knuckles struck a bruising blow, and split Chu-hui's skin in two places... blood began trickling down from her forehead, not a rapid flow, but definitely a noticeable one, and the master was staggering as she got to her feet.

"_That... came out of nowhere..." _thought Chu-hui, squinting as blood from her cut forehead began entering her eyes. Seeing red, Slade punched at her again... but this time, Chu-hui was able to block, grabbing Slade's fist and holding it back from reaching her face. "One punch... is _more _than enough..."

As Chu-hui's grip tightened around Slade's fist, he smiled... then pulled back his arm as hard as he could, forcing a stunned Chu-hui slightly forward, and giving Slade the opening he needed to bring his elbow down into the back of her head. Chu-hui let out a gasp and fell to the ground, clearly in a daze... her vision was starting to cloud.

"I suppose you're wondering, with all of your speed and your skill, how I possibly could've beaten you...?"

Slade now stood next to the fallen Chu-hui, who was starting to make her way up from the ground. She pushed up her arms, putting herself on all fours as stars continued to dance in front of her eyes.

"It was a simple question of _stamina_... as strong as you are, your body just wasn't able to hold out against mine... perhaps against a normal man my age, you would have won... but I'm hardly a normal man."

Just as Chu-hui was beginning to pull herself to her feet, Slade struck her in the head again with a powerful kick that put her flat on her back, barely conscious. Now breathing extremely quickly, the master looked up through narrowed, hazy eyes, cursing herself for not being able to focus enough energy to defeat Slade.

Now Sanza and Terra were entirely at his mercy... but she still held out hope that her training would be enough... that it would give Sanza the strength he needed to defeat what she knew would be a severely weakened foe.

"Government experimentation made me a super-soldier... living up here in the mountains, I don't think you quite understand what that means, so let me spell it out for you. I have the strength of ten men... a hundred men... and my body heals its injuries much, much faster than a normal person would be able to recover. Back when I was a mercenary... the greatest assassin on Earth, they didn't call me Slade... I was known as Deathstroke, the Terminator..."

Slade bent down and picked Chu-hui up from the floor, lifting her so that she could look him right in the eye. She didn't look even the least bit afraid... she did everything she could, and she knew that even though Slade didn't look it, he _was _depleted by their fight... exhausted... weakened...

"Sanza... will... stop... you..." Chu-hui stammered, before reaching forward to wrap her hands around Slade's neck. Before she could, Slade punched her in the face again... and instantly, Chu-hui's eyes closed. She slumped over in Slade's grasp, her head hanging back limply as her arms dropped to her sides.

"I don't think so."

Slade unceremoniously dropped Chu-hui's lifeless body to the floor, then turned toward the front of the temple, staring across the room at the damaged doors. He began walking toward them, knowing that somewhere outside, Sanza was walking around, not suspecting a thing.

"_If your teacher could not stop me, you have absolutely no chance, Sanza."_

O-O-O

Far away from the temple, on the other side of the mountain's summit, Sanza was calmly praying in a small shrine... his legs folded beneath him, his eyes closed, he was focusing completely on the trials that lay ahead.

Once he returned home, he would have to do battle with Slade... he didn't even begin to suspect that at that very moment, Slade was back at the mountain temple, having just defeated Sanza's master Chu-hui.

"_Lord... please give me the strength I need to protect the people I love... my mom... my sister... my friends... and... and Terra... I've trained so hard, I know I'm not the best fighter in the world... that's why I need Your help."_

He only had about a half-hour left before he would be returning home... he just hoped that Terra was awake, since she was the one that was going to have to bring him back to Jump City.

"_I tried to tell her that Robin could come pick us up in the T-Jet, but she insisted on bringing me back on her own... I guess if she got here on a rock, she can bring us back on one... I just hope she doesn't fall asleep, we'd fall into the ocean!"_

Sanza quickly tried to remember what Chu-hui had said... she'd told him to block out all the worries from his mind, concentrate only on the battle ahead... he only had thirty more minutes, he couldn't waste them on worrying about whether or not he'd fall into the ocean.

"_I trust Terra... she's not gonna fall asleep... we'll make it back home, safe and sound... then we'll beat Slade... and then we'll have the rest of our lives to spend together."_

A smile formed on Sanza's face, and he cleared his mind again before resuming his prayers.

O-O-O

Terra's dreams had been both vivid and loud... a cacophony of images and sounds that kept her tossing and turning in her sleep... she'd decided to spend the night in Sanza's room, where she would wait for him to come back from his meditation to wake her up. Unfortunately, what little sleep she had was made almost intolerable by her indecipherable dreams, until finally, she awoke with a start, sitting up on the padded mat where she had been slumbering.

"What in the world is going on out there...?" she said to herself, rolling out of bed and putting her socks and shoes back on before sliding away the panel to the room and looking out into the dojo.

What she saw when she looked out brought an incredible shock. Chu-hui was lying in the middle of the floor... she wasn't moving, and she didn't appear to be breathing either. As she ran out to check on the fallen woman, she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye... she turned in its direction and saw Slade standing next to the temple doors, about to exit through them.

Their eyes locked at the same time... Terra's mouth was wide in fear and shock, while Slade was completely calm. He hadn't expected Terra to come out right after his fight with Chu-hui... apparently, his former apprentice was a very sound sleeper.

"You..." gasped Terra, her entire body beginning to tremble. "Why... why are you-"

"I'm here to kill Sanza," Slade replied, "but it seems that there's no shortage of fools rising up to defend him."

When Slade gestured toward the fallen Chu-hui, Terra's attention was briefly diverted. She ran over to the master and knelt down beside her, placing two fingers on her neck to check for her pulse.

"You shouldn't be worried about her," said Slade, beginning to walk over to Terra. "I still haven't forgotten about our little fight back at the volcano."

Clenching her teeth in rage, Terra rose to her feet, her eyes and hands beginning to glow. Before Slade could take another step, Terra thrust out her arms, causing a spike of rock to burst up through the floor of the temple, right beneath Slade's feet. The seismic force sent him flying out through the front doors, and he landed on his back outside, letting out a gasp as his already battered body slammed into the rocky ground.

"You tried to ruin my life... I'm not _ever _going to let you ruin Sanza's!" Terra followed Slade out of the temple, coming down the steps leading up to the doorway and raising up another chunk of rock from the ground, throwing it down at Slade. Slade rolled out of the way, avoiding the rock and stopping in a crouched position some fifteen feet away from his former apprentice. "I... I hate you!"

Slade calmly stood up, wiping the dust and pebbles from his body before making his way back over to Terra. The geomancer threw up several slabs of rock in Slade's path, which he either punched through or walked around as he continued to walk toward his increasingly frightened blonde opponent. Soon, Terra found herself backing up, until she was standing in front of the doorway to the temple, with Slade still slowly approaching her.

"You ruined your own life... by throwing away the gift I gave you!" Slade punched forward, hitting Terra in her cheek and knocking her aside. She rolled on the ground for a few seconds before standing up and launching two small, fist-shaped stones at Slade, hitting him in the chest and knocking him back.

"_He's right... I _did _ruin my life... the moment I betrayed my friends..." _Slade's return brought all of Terra's old insecurities back to the surface, and she found herself beginning to tremble, even as Slade struggled to get up from the ground. _"No... no, I've been forgiven for that! Sanza forgave me! He loves me! I have to protect him!"_

As Slade started to stand, two large stone fists emerged from the ground and held him down, keeping his arms locked in place. They began to press against him, pushing him down and exerting a painful, almost strangling force. Terra gritted her teeth and pressed her hands downward, causing the stone hands to do the same, crushing Slade even tighter and causing him to let out a loud, painful cry.

"This is how I felt every time you hit me!" shouted Terra, hate clearly visible in her narrowed blue eyes. The stone hands crushed even tighter into Slade, forcing the last of the air out of him and causing him to begin choking. "This is how I felt every time you threatened me! This-"

With an even louder cry, Slade broke free of the hands holding him to the ground, sending small pieces of rock flying in all directions. He began walking toward Terra again, causing her to gasp and back off, away from the temple and toward the mountain path.

"You can fight all you want, Terra, resist all you want... but you know your powers are useless against me."

"That's not true!" Terra screamed, levitating a small rock from the ground and flinging it in Slade's direction. Almost effortlessly, he reached up and caught it, crushing it in his hands and instantly forming a large diamond, which he hurled back in Terra's direction. Stunned, she was barely able to dodge the projectile, and by the time she looked back over at Slade, he was charging toward her as quickly as he could. He rammed into her with his shoulder, knocking her to the ground with such force that her ankle twisted beneath her. "Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Terra fell on her side, holding her injured leg and moaning in pain. Slade brought up his leg to stomp on her, but at the last moment, the geomancer was able to create a small earthquake beneath Slade's feet, knocking him off balance and giving Terra the time she needed to stand up and put some distance between Slade and herself.

"_Come on, Terra... you don't have to be afraid of him anymore...! You beat him once, you can do it again!" _But no matter how much Terra tried to reassure herself, her powers brought her little comfort... of all the people in the world, Slade was the one she feared most... he trained her, and he could destroy her as well... with every slap, every punch, every kick he'd dealt to her during her intense training, that fear was constantly drilled into her head... and even now, she could barely bring up her hands to strike a blow. _"You stood up to him, remember?"_

"I can see it, Terra... that fear is still there." Slade did not come toward Terra, even as she began backing off down the mountain path... he taunted her from a distance, he wanted to conjure up all of her old ghosts, her nightmares... wanted to destroy her from within. "You can't defeat me, even though Sanza's life depends on it. You've always been a coward."

Slade's words struck a nerve within Terra, who instantly remembered exactly what she was fighting for. Slade hadn't come here to kill her... he'd come to kill Sanza.

"_I have to protect him...!"_

Terra ran forward at Slade, clenching her fists as she cleared the gap between the two of them. She pulled back her arm and struck at his face with a punch, a slow, careless strike that he easily countered. He grabbed Terra's arm and twisted it hard behind her back, forcing out a pain-filled scream.

"Now you're just being reckless," Slade said quietly, wrenching back Terra's arm even more.

In agonizing pain, Terra did the only thing she could think of doing... she lifted up her leg, kicking Slade in the groin as hard as she could. The blow connected, and Slade let out a gasp, releasing his grip on Terra and allowing her to hit him with a slab of rock, throwing him onto his back.

"I don't care if it's fighting dirty, I'll do what I can to get rid of you..."

"Good..." said Slade, rising up from the ground and hobbling a bit as he walked back toward Terra. "That's the kind of thinking I'd expect from a former apprentice..."

Still favoring her arm, Terra began having a flashback... back when she was training under Slade, he'd used that exact tone to congratulate her... now he was using it in response to one of her attacks... was she still thinking like one of Slade's evil apprentices?

"_No!!!" _thought Terra, putting both of her hands over her ears and shaking her head rapidly. _"No, I did what I had to do! Sanza would've done the same thing...!!"_

Upon seeing Terra in the midst of another meltdown, Slade charged forward at her again, hitting her with a powerful kick that spun her through the air twice before she hit the ground several feet away with a sickening thud.

"Remember, Terra... you _wanted _to destroy the Titans... you _wanted _to help me conquer the city..."

Slade had made his cut, and now he was just driving the knife in deeper... and Terra, lying on the ground in considerable pain, could start to feel a small stream of blood come down from her forehead, dripping off the tip of her nose and forming a small puddle on the ground below. The sight of her own blood, combined with the constant reminders of her horrific past, stirred up enough fear and despair in Terra to bring her to the verge of tears.

"_I... I wanted to help him... I did terrible things... I had no regrets..."_

Terra turned around and looked up to see Slade coming toward her again, walking calmly, going in for the kill...

"_I can't let this happen!!"_

Terra clenched her fists, and the ground began to shake beneath herself and Slade, as two large, stone slabs burst up from the ground on either side of him. Terra then brought her hands together, causing both slabs to rush inward.

Letting out a yell, Slade thrust out his arms, blocking both slabs against his hands and stopping them in place.

"You... can't... stop me...! I... made you... what you are!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" A bright yellow glow surrounded Terra's entire body as she began to stand, pushing the two large slabs even closer together, forcing Slade's arms inward. He could feel an intense strain on his muscles as he strained with everything he had to keep the slabs of rock from crushing him between their massive weight. He pushed outward against them, causing large cracks to appear in their facades... Terra tried to bring her hands closer together, but Slade was too strong, and the ground beneath Terra's feet began to lower, cracking and forming a small, shallow crater. She screamed and tried to focus all of her energy into the slabs, but with one final push, Slade knocked them both away, causing them to fall to the ground and shatter into pieces. Now drenched in sweat, Terra fell to her knees, bowing her head as tears began flowing down the sides of her face. _"I... I can't beat him..."_

"Was that... all?" Slade began walking toward Terra again, his breathing labored as his weakened arms fell to his sides. Stopping Terra's attack had clearly drained him, but it had drained a lot more from her... it seemed as if the geomancer had made her last strike. "It wasn't even worth training you."

Terra rose to her feet again, raising up several small rocks and throwing them at Slade. He was knocked back slightly, but then he continued toward Terra, not even raising his arms as she began to glow again. When she raised up another rock, one much bigger than the others, Slade reared back his head and smashed his face right through it.

"_How did he...?!" _Terra's arms dropped to her sides again, and her legs started to tremble beneath her. Slade grabbed Terra by the neck and threw her back toward the temple, but this time, she was able to stop herself, levitating two rocks up quickly and grabbing onto them, using them to float herself gently to the ground.

By now, Terra barely had the energy to stand... her forehead was still bleeding, though slower than before, and her entire body ached from having been tossed to the ground so many times. Slade, meanwhile, seemed to be completely in control, and he slowly came back toward her, almost beckoning Terra to try and attack him.

"_Come on, Terra... you can beat him... you shouldn't even be letting him touch you!" _Once again, Terra lifted up her arms, creating a wall of stone pillars around her that completely blocked her off from Slade. She stood in the center of the pillars and put her hands on her hips, allowing herself a brief smile. _"Now let's see him try to attack me..."_

As soon as the wall was up, Slade charged forward, ramming into one of the pillars at full speed. He smashed right into it, breaking it down and backing Terra up to the far wall... but this is exactly what she wanted. She lifted herself up on a cylindrical platform and tossed all of the pillars at Slade, flinging them at his body like giant stone two-by-fours. Slade was successful in dodging a few of them, but soon, they began battering his body, ramming into him at more than thirty miles an hour, and pummeling him with a series of blows that brought him to one knee. As soon as all the pillars had stopped flying, Terra lowered herself to the ground, clenching her fists and looking into Slade's eyes.

"I'm not afraid of you..." said Terra, her body glowing as the ground beneath Slade began to crack. She forced up the rock beneath him, forming several large spikes underneath his body... but he was too fast for Terra, leaping up into the air and aiming a kick down right at her face. Terra tried to form another rock structure, but the kick struck first, striking Terra between the eyes and knocking her back. She slammed into the ground again, bouncing up once before landing on her back ten feet away from Slade, fading in and out of consciousness.

"You will be," Slade replied, "but I think you already are... you're trying to hide it from me, but I knew from the moment I met you that you let your fear control you... you let it drive you to betray the people you love."

As Slade walked toward her, Terra stood up, feeling a sharp pain from her twisted ankle, an injury which had become even more aggravated by the fall she'd taken. She raised up her arms and tried to form a slab of rock to knock Slade away, but ended up levitating only a few small stones, and Slade easily punched through them.

"I would... never betray them again..."

"You betrayed them once, you can _always _do it again... I bet you'd even betray Sanza if you were afraid enough."

Terra's eyes widened, and she gasped... before her face quickly took on an expression of furious rage. She clenched her fists and levitated a cube of rock from the ground that was nearly five feet in length on all sides... with one blow from her fist, the cube shattered into thirty-six small, spiked stone projectiles which she threw at Slade with as much force as she could muster. The spikes moved to impale Slade, but at the last moment, he leapt up over them, somersaulting through the air and landing right in front of Terra. Still angry, she took a step back and raised her hands to strike Slade again, only to have his hand clench tightly around her left wrist. With her right hand free, Terra threw a punch at Slade's head... a punch that he dodged to the side at the same time that he released Terra's arm, causing her to stumble forward.

In less than a second, Slade's foot struck Terra in the side... a brutal kick that instantly brought Terra from a state of intense anger to a state of absolute fear. She could feel something shattering inside of her... one of her ribs, instantly fracturing under the force of the blow. With a piercing scream, Terra fell to her knees, clutching her broken rib and trembling violently. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but another scream came anyway, followed by streams of tears making their way down her cheeks. She let out a third scream, but it was silent... the pain was so intense that Terra was unable to catch her breath, and she felt as if she was going to throw up, but nothing came.

"Now would you betray him? Would you betray Sanza to make the pain go away?"

Terra was too weak to say it, but the answer would've been no... even if she were feeling pain a million times worse, she would never forsake Sanza... but now, it was too late. Her weakness had brought harm to him worse than any betrayal... she was in no shape to continue fighting now.

Slade brought his fist down on the back of Terra's head, and all went black.

"Two down... all that remains is for me to eliminate Sanza."

As Slade looked down at the fallen, unconscious body of Terra, several thoughts crossed his mind. He could easily kill her here and be done with it... but he knew she hadn't suffered enough, not _nearly _enough for what she'd put him through. The agony of being burned alive, the suffering he'd endured in the underworld, and the struggle to regain his life... all had been because of Terra, and if he killed her now, her suffering would be exactly the same as his. A few seconds of intense pain, followed by death...

...she had to suffer much, much worse.

Without a word, Slade grabbed Terra by the ankles and dragged her back into the True Master's temple. He placed her unconscious form next to the bag of equipment he'd brought up to the mountain, then knelt down beside the bag and opened it up.

"_I'm going to make you watch him die..."_

O-O-O

Terra opened her eyes and saw only darkness... the candles lining the dojo had all gone out, but when her hazy vision returned to normal, she could see the moonlight streaming in from outside, and remembered exactly where she was.

"_Sanza..."_

She was lying on the straw floor of the dojo, and could feel a dull pain in every part of her body... especially in the right side of her midsection, where something just didn't feel right... something was disconnected from something else, and whenever she tried to move, it felt like something was stabbing her in the ribs.

There was also a dull pain in her arms, and when Terra tried to move them, she realized why. Metallic bands had been placed around her arms, binding them at the wrists... and at the elbows as well, which caused her chest to bend out slightly and put even more pressure on her aching ribs. When she looked down at her legs, she could see her ankles bound in similar fashion.

"Mmmm... _I can't... move my lips...!"_

A piece of duct tape had been placed over Terra's mouth, silencing her and forcing her to breathe through her nose... which was no small task, considering that it was slightly stuffed up from when she'd been crying earlier. She was lying on her side, and the second she began to struggle against her bonds, she felt an agonizing pain.

"MMMmmmmm!"

"...you're awake."

Terra expelled several quick breaths through her nose as the stabbing pain in her side began to fade... her bound elbows bent out her entire midsection, putting her broken rib under a horrendous amount of strain. Now that she was fully awake and aware, the pain was constant... she let out another scream, much quieter than the last, looking up in terror as Slade slowly walked toward her.

"While we wait for Sanza, I'm going to show you some of the pain I experienced after you killed me."

Slade lifted Terra up by her shirt collar, holding her up in the air and bringing back his fist. As she watched on in painful horror, Slade struck her with a devastating punch, splitting open her forehead and forcing her to let out another loud, muffled scream.

He then dropped Terra to the ground, making sure she landed right on her injured ribs. She screamed again, nearly passing out before rolling onto her back and letting out another agonized cry.

"_Sanza...! Someone... anyone... help me!!!"_

Terra had never been in this much pain... her side felt as if it was about to rip apart, and the rest of her body wasn't feeling too terribly good either. She closed her eyes as a stream of blood from her forehead began dripping onto them, not wanting to experience any more agony than she already was. As Slade slowly walked toward her, Terra couldn't help but open her eyes again, just to see what he was about to do... he brought his foot back and was about to strike Terra right in her injured rib, a blow that Terra knew would cripple her for life... if she survived this ordeal in the first place.

A wooden staff hit Slade in the back of the head... it was such a forceful blow that the staff broke in two, and Slade instantly fell to his knees. As Terra rolled out of the way, she looked up to see her savior.

It was Chu-hui.

"You will _not _hurt her any more!" Chu-hui stood strong, holding half of a bamboo staff in her hands... she was clearly exhausted from her earlier battle, but despite all that, she wasn't about to allow Slade to lay another finger on Terra. Angrily, Slade stood up, turning away from his captive and looking down into the master's eyes.

"I see that there's still some life left in you... it appears that I'm just going to have to stomp it out."

Slade began to walk toward Chu-hui, who tossed away her staff and slammed her fist into Slade's gut as hard as she could. The blow stunned him for a moment, but he continued walking forward, raising his right arm to block another punch from Chu-hui. He smacked her arm away, then brought up his foot and kicked her in the face, knocking her onto her back.

While this was going on, Terra watched in both fear and astonishment... she turned herself around so that she could lie on the opposite side of her broken rib and observe the fight at the same time... and though it caused her intense pain to do so, she continued to struggle against the bands holding her arms, knowing that she might still be Chu-hui and Sanza's only hope.

"I see you've fought the girl..." said Chu-hui, who could sense that Slade's blows were coming in a bit slower than they'd been when he'd fought _her_. "And she put up a very good fight."

"She was nothing."

Slade threw his fist forward at Chu-hui as the master stood up, but his punch sailed right above her head as she bent her body back to avoid the blow. She reached up and grabbed Slade by the wrist, trying to throw him over her body and into the wall... but because of the injuries she'd suffered, she was unable to do so, and Slade was able to easily kick her away. Terra immediately let out a scream, fearing the worst as Chu-hui's body slammed into the wall next to the doorway. She continued to struggle, wincing and shutting her eyes as tightly as she could as more pain shot out from her broken rib.

"_I'll show you just how _nothing_ I am..." _As Terra struggled courageously, Chu-hui was being pummeled by punch after punch from Slade, her body battered repeatedly against the wall as she tried to fight back.

"A futile effort," Slade said calmly, even as one of Chu-hui's kicks landed a glancing blow against his side. "You should've continued to play dead."

"_I wasn't playing..." _thought Chu-hui, who looked past Slade just long enough to see Terra's predicament... as badly injured as the girl was, she was still struggling with all of her might to get free, even though the fight was putting an incredible strain on her body. _"I just wish I could've awakened before you had to get involved, Terra... I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you from this..."_

Another of Chu-hui's kicks came Slade's way, but he responded by grabbing her ankle and flinging her back. Exhausted and injured, Chu-hui was unable to right herself... she hit the floor hard and rolled several times, coming to a stop just a foot away from Terra, who stopped her struggles and let out a scream as the master climbed to her feet again.

"_Please... you can't fight him, just get out of here... you're going to die...!"_

Terra's protests were muffled by the tape sealing her lips, but Chu-hui had a pretty good idea of what the blonde was trying to tell her. She looked at Terra and tried to give her as encouraging of a smile as she could, wanting to calm the frightened girl's nerves... wanting to let her know that it would be all right.

"Don't worry... I can beat Slade... I'll get us both out of this, just-"

Slade's fist slammed into the side of Chu-hui's head, immediately bringing an end to her conversation with Terra. The master fell to her knees, a dazed expression on her face... Terra let out another scream, but this only seemed to encourage Slade, who got behind Chu-hui and picked her up from the ground, his arm wrapping tightly around her neck.

"This is _your _fault, Terra... what happens to her is your fault, and what happens to Sanza will be your fault as well."

Slade's arm tightened around Chu-hui's neck, constricting her airway and cracking the bones around her throat... Terra was stunned into silence, her eyes widening as she slowly shook her head.

"_Don't... don't... please... please, Slade, NO!"_

A sickening crunch could be heard as Chu-hui's neck finally cracked from the pressure that Slade's arm was exerting. Her eyes closed, and her head drooped... the True Master was dead.

Horrified, Terra let out a scream of anguish, watching helplessly as Slade casually dropped Chu-hui's lifeless body to the floor. She let out a muffled sob, but the tears wouldn't come... they'd already been cried out, most of them for herself.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... you'll be joining her shortly, but not before your boyfriend..."

Every conceivable negative emotion was now welling up within Terra. Fear, despair, grief, anger, hatred... it was this last one, the pure hatred she felt for Slade, that caused her to pull herself up as much as she could, up to her knees, her eyes looking up into his face the entire time.

"_I hate you..." _She spoke slowly, making sure that Slade could understand every word, even through the tape. Hidden by his mask, Slade's lips curved into a smile... he understood Terra completely, and he was about to let her know that the feeling was mutual.

He backhanded Terra hard across the face, bringing her back down onto her side and forcing out another scream. Then, he lifted her back up again, pulling her up by her hair until she was standing next to him, gripping her chin in his hand and forcing her to look back up into his eye.

"I know you do."

Before Slade could strike her again, he could see someone step into the doorway of the temple. He turned to face them, turning Terra around as well.

"Put... her... DOWN!"

It was Sanza, his arms in front of his body, his hands clenched into fists, glaring over at Slade with a look of pure contempt. Slade immediately pulled Terra in front of him, still keeping the tight grip he had on her jaw.

"Look at her, Sanza... she threw everything she had at me and didn't stand a chance. What makes you think you can even land a single blow on me?"

Sanza already knew the answer to that question... he loved Terra with all of his heart, and he would fight to protect her, he would give everything he had to make sure she was safe. He didn't care if he had his suit, he didn't care if Slade was bigger, stronger, faster... all he cared about was protecting Terra.

"I said 'put her down'," Sanza repeated, emphasizing each word and taking a step toward Slade. Once he was inside the temple, he could see Chu-hui's lifeless body on the floor... he knew she was dead from the moment he saw her, and a terrible grief gripped at his heart... but soon, that grief was overwhelmed by his anger, and unable to control it any more, he ran at Slade as fast as he could, determined to rip him limb from limb. Slade threw Terra roughly to the floor, then prepared for Sanza's first attack, which took the form of a high, spinning kick. Slade blocked the kick against his right hand, catching Sanza's foot and throwing him back. Sanza remained standing, and once he'd stopped himself about two steps later, he immediately got himself into a fighting stance and prepared to strike at Slade again.

"Your master and Terra were just as determined to beat me as you are right now, and both of them fell."

"Shut the fuck up."

Sanza was in absolutely no mood to have a discussion with Slade, running at him again and throwing a brutal punch right to the center of Slade's chest. The punch came in much quicker than Slade had expected, and he was knocked back, unable to raise his arms in defense before another punch, this time at his right shoulder, struck with even more force and caused Slade's body to spin slightly to the side. This was where Sanza aimed for next, his foot heading right at Slade's waist.

As Sanza's kick moved forward, Slade reversed his momentum and swung his body back, moving his right side away from Sanza's kick while bringing his left fist straight at the boy's mouth. The punch struck a direct hit, and Sanza was tossed backward, hitting the floor and letting out a scream. A single droplet of blood hung in the air for a moment before hitting the floor, and more blood was coming down the right side of Sanza's mouth, staining his chin and the top of his white karate gi. Terra let out a horrified scream, scooting over to Sanza and trying to shield his body with hers.

"Terra, no..." Sanza quickly rolled out of the way, safely away from Terra as he stood up and raised his fists to continue the fight. _"You've done enough... you've weakened him... now let me do the rest..."_

Sanza's anger had subsided a bit, replaced entirely by regret... he'd heard none of the fighting, either inside of the temple or outside of it, and had come back merely to wake Terra up for their journey home.

But now, instead of heading for home, Sanza was in the fight of his life... and Terra's life as well. He stood his ground as Slade came toward him, blocking both punches that Slade threw before lunging forward and driving an elbow hard into the villain's gut. Again surprised by the strength that Sanza was showing, Slade stumbled back, his eyes widening as he walked Sanza run toward him and continue the assault, battering Slade's face and chest with a series of powerful, well-aimed punches. Slade was forced back even further, and found himself having to block the next few blows that came in.

Faced with a much more formidable opponent than he'd anticipated, the exhaustion from the previous two fights was finally setting in for Slade, who had to catch his breath while at the same time blocking nearly a dozen of Sanza's best punches... and was barely able to stave off the last few. He finally earned himself a brief respite after bringing up his foot and kicking Sanza in the chest, knocking the boy away and giving himself time to breathe.

"_He's reeling..." _thought Sanza, wiping some of the blood away from his mouth and watching as Slade hunched over. A surge of confidence began welling up within Sanza, and he charged forward, leaping into the air and bringing his leg down on Slade's neck. Slade reached up and grabbed Sanza by the ankle, flinging him hard into the wall and instantly bringing the boy down from his mid-battle high. "Aaayyyyugh!"

Terra screamed again, both out of fear and frustration... she grimaced as another stabbing pain shot up from her ribs, but continued pulling at the bands around her arms, even as she felt them beginning to cut into her tender skin. A few feet away, Sanza was beginning to stand, even as Slade threw a powerful punch right at his head. He slid his body to the side and kicked Slade in the chest to push him away, then charged forward and launched himself into a diving tackle. Slade brought his knee up into Sanza's gut, immediately stopping his lunge and bringing him to his knees... where a single backhand was all it took to throw the boy back into the wall.

"Is that it? Two weeks of training, and that's all you have to show for it... a few new kicks and a bit more speed. You truly are a fool."

Slade wrapped his hand tightly around Sanza's neck, cutting off his oxygen while at the same time pinning him up against the wall. Sanza struggled fiercely, but this only caused Slade's grip to get tighter and tighter... and soon, the boy started to gasp and choke.

"Had you become _my _apprentice, had you trained under me, you would have power unimaginable... you would have enough skills to defeat Robin, even without that suit of yours... and with it, you would have been completely invincible."

Sanza narrowed his eyes... then began looking back and forth between Slade and Terra... it broke his heart to see his beautiful angel, battered, bleeding, and broken on the ground. One look at Terra reminded him why, no matter how much Slade threatened him, no matter how much harm he threatened to cause, he would never, _ever _serve him. He returned his gaze back to Slade, clenched his teeth and looked the villain right in the eye.

"There's just... one problem..." gasped Sanza, managing to get just enough air to be able to speak. "I hate your guts."

He brought his head forward, striking Slade between the eyes with a vicious headbutt. It hurt Sanza, but hurt Slade just as much, even with the mask... and he was sent tumbling back, his grip loosening from Sanza's neck. Sanza charged forward, planting his elbow right into Slade's gut... then, while he was doubling over, Sanza struck Slade with a punch to the face, causing the crack that Chu-hui had formed in his mask to get much larger. The crack now ran all the way down from just above Slade's right eye to just beside his lip... and for the first time, Slade was beginning to show fear.

Sanza looked down at Terra, the angry expression on his face immediately softening as he walked over to her... he had to get her out of here, he couldn't let her spend another minute with Slade, not after all the harm she'd already sustained.

"Terra... can you stand...?" He knelt down beside Terra and reached forward to remove the tape from her lips... but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Slade diving toward him. Sanza immediately threw himself backward so that Slade wouldn't plow him over... instead, the criminal mastermind landed just behind him, punching down at the floor. "LEAVE TERRA OUT OF THIS!"

"She was the one who attacked _me_," said Slade, before turning around and sending another sweeping kick right at Sanza's head. Sanza reached up and caught Slade's foot in his hands, but was unable to block the second kick, which hit him in the face and sent him flying over Terra. He landed on his back in the middle of the dojo, watching as Slade stepped over Terra and came toward him. Sanza quickly stood up, blocking Slade's first punch, only to be again sent reeling by a devastating second blow that threw his body up and into the air again.

Sanza landed in the middle of the meditation room, flat on his back on the padded mat that once served as his bed... now offering him only a brief respite from a fight that was as brutal as anything he'd ever been in. He stood up and exited the meditation room, charging toward Slade and launching himself into the air, aiming a dropkick at his opponent's head. Slade dodged the kick by simply stepping back, allowing Sanza to hit the floor.

"_Come on, Sanza... this is what you trained for..." _Still forced to be a silent, helpless spectator, Terra continued to watch as Sanza struggled to gain an advantage over Slade. As exhausted as the archvillain was, he was continuing to give Sanza all he could handle... and then some. _"Please... please don't die..."_

Sanza grimaced and groaned as he rose to his feet again, only to be immediately knocked down by the side of Slade's powerful forearm, which rammed into Sanza's face and brought him back down to the ground, his head slamming hard into the straw floor. Slade attempted to stomp down on Sanza's chest, but he rolled out of the way and got back up again, stepping back toward the panel in front of the temple's kitchen. As he backed up, he stepped over the body of Chu-hui... whose bloodied, lifeless face was a grim reminder of exactly what Slade was capable of... and what Sanza was fighting for.

"_I'm fighting to protect Terra... and to avenge my master!"_ He continued to back up, then crouched down as Slade charged toward him, putting one foot in front of the other and concentrating all of the energy he still had. _"I remember what you taught me, master... block everything from my mind... focus on the battle... block everything else out..."_

With Terra's pained, muffled cries pounding in Sanza's ears, that was difficult to do... but once he was finally able to focus, he could see Slade's fist coming at him, seemingly in slow motion. He raised up his arm and blocked the blow, then thrust his foot forward into Slade's chest. The more Sanza concentrated, the slower everything seemed to become... and blocking and countering Slade's blows became almost effortless.

"_He's moving so quickly...!" _Slade threw punch after punch at Sanza, but each of them met with resistance, either the side of Sanza's arm, or one of his knees reaching up to push Slade's first away.

Terra watched with increasing excitement as Sanza staved off Slade's attack, and even returned with a few blows of his own... with each strike that Sanza made, the villain seemed to be getting more and more exhausted... and finally, Sanza landed a blow that knocked Slade away, forcing him almost to the center of the dojo.

"I'm going to make you regret the day you even looked at Terra..." said Sanza coldly, walking across the floor of the room toward an increasingly uneasy Slade. Suddenly, he broke out into a run, leaping into the air and launching his body upward into a powerful, spinning kick that was aimed right at the crack of Slade's mask.

"_If he can split that thing open, Slade's head will be completely defenseless!" _thought Terra, raising all the way up to her knees as Sanza's kick swept forward.

Suddenly, Slade's hand reach up and grabbed Sanza by the ankle, stopping him in mid-kick. He stared fiercely into the boy's eyes, almost laughing at his foolishness for being so arrogant. Before Sanza could try and attack again, Slade twirled him around, releasing him at the apex of his swing and hurling Sanza all the way back into the wall. He smashed through the panel that blocked off the kitchen, continuing back until he hit a wooden cabinet. He let out a loud cry as he slammed back-first into the hard bamboo, slumping against it and trying desperately to pick himself up as Slade followed him into the room.

"_I thought... I thought I had him beat...!" _Sanza pressed himself up against the cabinet, watching as Slade entered and reached down into a small, wooden box that was lying on the floor. When he saw that Slade had pulled out a knife, his eyes widened.

"Well now... _this _is a fortunate occurrence." Slade threw the knife at Sanza's head, laughing to himself even as Sanza ducked under it and it embedded itself into the wall. "Careful now..."

Sanza was barely able to bring himself back up before he found himself being slammed up against a wall, one of his arms wrenched behind his back by Slade, who twisted it until he could hear the shoulder begin to pop out of place. Outside of the kitchen, Terra could only listen on as Sanza's loud scream filled the entire room... causing her to bow her head and let out a scream of her own. She squirmed over to the kitchen, watching as Slade punched Sanza repeatedly before throwing him back up against another wall, forcing another loud scream out of the boy's mouth.

"_Why can't I beat him? Two weeks of training... the toughest two weeks of my whole life... I thought I was good enough!" _With his right arm dislocated and nearly unusable, Sanza was forced to use his left arm to press against the wall and support himself as he stood up. As he did, he could see Slade pulling the knife he'd thrown earlier out of the wall. _"This isn't good..."_

Slade came toward Sanza with the knife, stabbing down at him only to be kicked in the chest and knocked back. This gave Sanza just enough time to reach down and grab a knife of his own, which he held up in order to block Slade's next strike. He pushed his knife against Slade's, but with only one arm, wasn't even close to having enough strength to push it back all the way. He managed to slide over, but wasn't quite fast enough to avoid being cut, and the knife sliced across his chest, making a wide, painful gash. Sanza let out a scream, dropping the knife he was holding and looking down, watching as an ugly red stain appeared on his white top.

Outside the kitchen, Terra was horrified to see Sanza sustain such a brutal wound. She looked away, shaking some of the tears from her eyes, only to be replaced by more tears that came down her face rapidly, mixing in with the blood that was streaming down from her forehead.

"Terra...!" Sanza clenched his teeth, and as Slade came toward him with the knife again, he rolled to the side even faster than before, causing the knife to miss him entirely and embed itself deep into the wall. Slade struggled to pull it out, and Sanza capitalized, kicking Slade hard in the side and knocking him back out of the kitchen. As Slade stepped back, Sanza battered him repeatedly with blows to his face and chest, forcing him even further back into the dojo and filling Sanza with confidence once more. _"I won't let you down!"_

Slade came to a stop about six feet away from Sanza... he stood his ground and looked his opponent over... as confident as Sanza was, one look told Slade that the boy was about to be on his last legs. He was incredibly exhausted, almost to the point of collapse... his blood-stained clothes were a testament to the wound he'd sustained, a wound that was draining energy from him with every second... and his body was bruised and battered, even moreso than Terra's.

But if Sanza was about to fall over, he either didn't know it, or didn't care. He calmly faced down Slade, clenching his fists and preparing to come at him again.

"I'll never stop fighting, Slade... I'll protect Terra with everything I have..."

"You're starting to sound like a broken record... I'm going to break you in half right in front of your precious Terra," Slade spat, going into a fighting stance as Sanza rushed toward him. Sanza struck first with a spinning kick, but Slade blocked it easily, then blocked two punches that Sanza threw at his chest before throwing a punch of his own, one that hit Sanza in the forehead and knocked him to the floor.

Sanza got up and punched at Slade several more times, but each of his blows found nothing but air, as Slade effortlessly maneuvered his body out of the way of Sanza's blows. He then kneed Sanza in the gut, before sweeping his leg across the boy's ankles, bringing him immediately down to the ground. Another knee connected with Sanza's nose, breaking it instantly. Screaming in agony, Sanza found himself thrown onto his back, his mouth rapidly filling with blood as Terra looked on with a stunned and sickened expression.

It was at that moment, as he lay on his back, with Terra's muffled screams ringing in his ears, that Sanza began to come to a horrific realization... he was going to lose, and there was nothing he could do. Despite all of his training, he was still just an ordinary person... and he didn't have a chance against someone like Slade. He _never _had a chance.

"_No... no, Sanza..." _Terra began to sob as she watched Sanza lay on the ground, blood flowing freely from the sides of his mouth... she then watched as Slade then launched a brutal kick into Sanza's side, one that knocked him all the way over toward Terra.

Spitting out blood, Sanza managed to crawl his way up to his knees... and Terra rose up to look at him, bringing up her head and looking right into his eyes, so close that the tips of their noses almost touched.

"Terra..." whispered Sanza, wiping the last of the blood from his face so that Terra wouldn't have to see him in such a terrible state... "I... I..."

By now, Slade had walked over to Sanza and was standing beside him, looking down on him with contempt.

"You didn't even put up a fight..." said Slade. Sanza ignored him, continuing to look into Terra's eyes as he tried to convey everything he was feeling... his sadness, his regret... and most of all, his love.

"I love you, Terra..." said Sanza, before starting to rise again, putting himself between Slade and his beloved, raising his fists to make one final stand. "And I'll never... let anyone... HURT YOU!!!"

Sanza threw a punch at Slade's head, but Slade reached up and grabbed his fist before it even got close to striking him. He then slammed his elbow into the side of Sanza's head, bringing him to his knees again and causing his eyes to lock with Terra's for a second time.

"_I couldn't beat him... I couldn't... protect you... I'm so sorry..." _And for the first time, tears began falling from Sanza's eyes as well. He bowed his head, too ashamed to look at Terra... the girl he couldn't protect, even when he fought with all of his might.

He just wasn't strong enough.

"You're going to suffer just like her," said Slade, kneeling down beside Sanza and bringing his elbow above the defeated boy's head. "But you're the lucky one... you're going to die first."

Slade brought his elbow down hard on Sanza's head... he heard a muffled scream of 'NO!' from Terra... then everything went black.


	22. A New Reality

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

The hellish maelstrom of fear, anger, and despair that filled Sanza's final moments of consciousness all coalesced as Slade's elbow came down on the boy's head, the negative emotions all canceling each other out and giving Sanza a dreamless respite from the intense physical and mental pain.

He awoke to a much different feeling, opening his eyes and seeing a bright light... and then a clean white ceiling above his head. He blinked... same ceiling, same light, though dimmer this time. His head began to ache, but the pain faded in and out, and Sanza realized that he was resting on a pillow... and before he could think of anything else, he saw a pair of beautiful blue eyes staring straight down at him.

"Sanza... oh my gosh, you're awake...!"

Everything came back in a rush as Terra's soft body fell upon him, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck. The last thing Sanza remembered was seeing Terra's bloodied, battered face, her eyes wide in tearful horror, her tape-sealed lips crying out in anguish... but now, it seemed, she was free... and safe... and so was he.

There was still pain, pain that Sanza could easily feel as Terra's body pressed against his. His chest was heavily bandaged, and he could feel some kind of plastic covering on his nose... as for Terra, she seemed to be completely unharmed, save for several turns of gauze around her stomach, below the black sport bra she was wearing on her chest.

"Terra, what... what happened? I thought... I thought Slade-"

"It doesn't matter now, none of that matters, you're safe and that's all that-"

"Terra, please..." continued Sanza, wrapping his own arms tightly around Terra's back and trying to fight off the teardrops that were beginning to form in his eyes. "Did the Titans come save us, or-"

"No, it's kind of a long story..." Slowly, and a bit reluctantly, Terra pulled away from Sanza. Now that she was standing next to the bed, Sanza could see for the first time the extent of the blonde's injuries... which really weren't all that bad. Save for her ribs, which appeared to be heavily taped, she didn't have a scratch on her.

Sanza, on the other hand, was a different story. A small, protective plastic covering had been placed over his nose, held there by two small strips of tape on either side. His chest, which had been slashed quite severely during his battle with Slade, was wrapped up with bandages in similar fashion to Terra's ribs. Scattered throughout his body were small cuts that were covered up in bandages, nothing too severe, but still painful to the touch. He'd been dressed in a light blue hospital gown that had been left open, revealing a pair of black boxer shorts underneath. After a couple seconds of initial alarm, he realized that he'd been wearing them the day before, and breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that none of the Titans had seen him naked.

All of that aside, there was still the question of exactly how he and Terra had escaped from Slade's clutches. When he'd passed out, the two of them had been at the criminal mastermind's mercy... he'd expected to wake up to find himself being tortured alongside of her, living the last few minutes of his life in horrific agony.

And finally, the first few tears came to Sanza's eyes. He started to look away so that Terra wouldn't have to see them, but before he could, he felt her hand gently brush them away from his face. He let out a long sigh, ashamed of himself for not being able to protect her. Two weeks of the most intense training of his entire life, and against a Slade who had been softened up by both Chu-hui and Terra, and he still couldn't win?

"It's okay to cry, Sanza," said Terra, almost beginning to get choked up herself. "I... I did my share of crying over the last twelve hours..."

"That's how long I've been unconscious?!"

"I brought you into the Tower about three or four hours ago, Raven healed the two of us as much as she could, then we brought you in here..."

"Wait a minute, start from the beginning... I have to know how we got out of there alive, I think I have a pretty good idea, but..." Sanza trailed off, trying to wrap his mind around the idea that somehow, Terra had managed to free herself and overpower Slade. _"That _was _how she got us out of there, right?"_

Terra nodded, sliding a small blue chair up next to the bed and sitting down. She reached over and took Sanza's hand in both of hers, trying to comfort him as she related the tale of the moments after Sanza had been knocked out.

O-O-O

_As Terra watched Sanza's battered body fall face-down to the floor, she could see her life flashing before her eyes. Her childhood, her bungling attempts at heroism, her friendship with and betrayal of the Teen Titans... and the days she'd spent with her beloved Sanza._

"_I deserve this," she thought, her bound body trembling violently as Slade mercilessly kicked the unconscious Sanza in his side. She slunk back, away from her unconscious boyfriend, away from Slade. "I deserve this for betraying my friends... I deserve this for not being able to protect Chu-hui, or even Sanza!"_

_The tears flowed freely down Terra's face. She looked up at Slade as he kicked Sanza again, chuckling slightly to himself. _

"_He'll kill us both... he'll torture us first, and then... NO! I can't let Sanza die like that, I deserve it, but he DOESN'T!"_

_Terra clenched her fists and started to fight her bonds once more. She could feel the metallic bands around her wrists, cutting into her skin the more she struggled. She didn't care, not even as blood slipped down onto her hands, slickening her fingers as she continued to fight with everything she had._

_It was then that Slade locked eyes with her, and Terra was filled with a familiar feeling of dread... slowly, Slade walked toward the struggling geomancer, his every deliberate step frightening Terra more and more, causing adrenaline to course through her body... and causing her hands to begin to glow. She struggled harder, screaming as her bound elbows forced out her midsection and distended her fractured ribs, she didn't care if she crippled herself, she wasn't going to let Sanza suffer for another second._

"_I suppose I can amuse myself until he wakes up," said Slade, stopping a few feet away from Terra and looking down at her. She was kneeling now, and unbeknownst to Slade, she'd managed to levitate a small, sharp rock into her hands. "I wonder how much you can take and still live?"_

_With rock in hand, Terra sawed fiercely at the bands binding her wrists, and within seconds, she'd cut them away. Trembling, she closed her eyes and managed to concentrate enough to levitate the small rock up to the band around her elbows... and a few seconds later, she'd freed those as well._

"_Yes...!!!" thought Terra, opening her eyes and expelling a breath of air from her nostrils, the closest thing to a sigh that she could manage with her mouth still taped up. "I have a chance now..."_

_Slade took another step toward Terra, which nearly brought him close enough to punch her to the ground. Terra let out another scream, bending back and cutting her ankles free with the same sharp rock she used to free her arms. An instant later, she threw the rock at Slade, hitting him in the chest and knocking him back. He let out a cry of disbelief, and Terra picked herself up from the ground, clutching her broken rib with one hand and peeling the tape from her mouth with the other. She spat a clump of blood out onto the ground, then levitated several more rocks into the air, looking into Slade's eyes with a fury that bordered on hatred._

"_Get out!" Terra screamed, flinging the rocks at Slade with such force that it caught him completely off-guard. He stumbled back, crying out again as one of the rocks struck his mask, widening the crack that had already been placed in it during the earlier fight. "Don't touch Sanza again...!!"_

"_You actually think you can defeat me in your condition?" Slade said, walking back over toward Terra and easily swatting away two more rocks that she tried to hit him with. "This will be over in a few moments."_

"_No, Slade, I don't think I can defeat you..." Terra replied, backing off from Slade and holding her palms straight out. Her hands took on a bright, yellow glow, and a second later, her eyes did as well. Tears were still streaming down her face... Terra was preparing a bluff that would mean the difference between life and death. She would NEVER let Sanza die at Slade's hands. "But I don't have to. All I have to do is take down this whole mountain!"_

"_Are you insane?" Slade said calmly, though the slight change in his expression indicated to Terra that he actually took her threat seriously. "You'll kill us all."_

"_Better to die a quick, painless death than to let me and Sanza get tortured! He'd understand, I KNOW he would!" The whole time, Terra's legs were trembling... she prayed that she wouldn't actually have to go through with her threat... that she wouldn't have to kill Sanza, even though it would likely save him from a fate worse than death. "And I'm perfectly ready to kill YOU again."_

_Slade looked Terra over, carefully trying to gauge if she was truly bluffing, or if she'd actually be willing to sacrifice herself again. He could see that her legs were trembling, but he also knew that she'd likely been scared when she sacrificed herself the first time... and if he'd learned anything from the terrible ordeal of death, it was that he couldn't underestimate Terra's strength of will, even for a second._

"_You're really, truly willing to kill the boy you love."_

_Terra's eyes narrowed, and for a moment, Slade could see through the intense glow... see straight through to the core of her being, he could see the true intentions of her heart... and in that instant, Slade knew that Terra was truly capable of going through with what she said she would do. He could feel the mountain itself begin to tremble under his feet... and a chill went through his spine._

"_...get out of my way."_

_Slade charged straight forward at Terra, who jumped to the side, allowing Slade to escape the temple. He dashed out into the night, and once he reached the edge, he leapt straight down into the abyss, leaving Terra alone with the murdered True Master and the badly-beaten Sanza._

_Overwhelmed with joy and relief, Terra fell to her knees. The yellow glow immediately disappeared from her body, and she bowed her head, ignoring the river of pain flowing through her every nerve. She began to sob, grieving for the fallen Chu-hui, and fearing for the life of her boyfriend, who lay motionless on the floor just a few feet away. Once she could compose herself, she crawled over to Sanza and placed a finger on his neck. He had a pulse... a surprisingly strong pulse, indicating that while he was badly hurt, he would still survive his injuries if he could receive medical attention in a timely manner._

_Terra knew she had to move fast. She stood up, limping over to Chu-hui's body and picking it up in her arms. She gasped as she placed Chu-hui's body over her shoulder, her broken rib flaring up and nearly causing Terra enough pain to make her pass out. _

"_She deserves a proper burial..." thought Terra, holding her ribs with one hand and wiping the tears from her eyes with the other. "She died trying to protect me and Sanza... and she deserves to rest in peace on her mountain..."_

_Terra exited the temple, placing Chu-hui's body gently down on the ground and using her powers to form a hole in the dirt that was eight feet deep, five feet long, and two feet wide. After digging the hole, Terra levitated the body up on a small platform of dirt and lowered it inside._

"_Thank you... thank you for making Sanza stronger, and for protecting us with your life... you were a kind, strong, and wonderful person..." As Terra softly spoke a brief eulogy, a eulogy for the benefit of no one else except the spirits floating on the summit of the mountain, she began covering Chu-hui's body with dirt, sobbing as she filled up the hole. With that business out of the way, Terra only had one thing left to do..._

_She had to get Sanza back to the Tower, as quickly as possible._

_The 6,000-mile journey across the Pacific Ocean was one of the most difficult ordeals of Terra's entire life. She traversed the great distance at near-supersonic speeds, pouring all the power she had left into moving the platform of rock holding up Sanza and herself, not stopping for even a moment._

_By the time Terra limped up to the front door of Titans Tower, carrying the still-unconscious Sanza in her arms, it was late afternoon in Jump City. Though the journey had taken only eight hours, Terra had crossed numerous time zones on her trip... by far the longest trip she'd ever taken in a single day._

_It was Robin who answered the door, and he recoiled in shock and horror at seeing the state his two friends were in. He quickly summoned Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg, who rushed both Sanza and Terra into the infirmary... though despite the severity of her injuries, Terra demanded that Sanza be treated first... it was only at Raven's insistence that she allowed the empath to heal her broken rib._

_And through the entire ordeal, Terra didn't pass out... not even once._

O-O-O

When Terra finished recalling how she managed to save both herself and Sanza from Slade, Sanza didn't know what to think.

But he'd started crying again... and the tears were coming too fast for him to wipe away. After everything he'd gone through, after all the promises he made to Terra, it was _her _who had saved both of their lives... and it sounded like she'd suffered terribly in the process. With a broken rib, she'd managed to fly across the entire distance of the Pacific Ocean in just eight hours. She'd exerted so much energy to save Sanza... who was now lying in an infirmary bed, injured and inadequate.

"I'm so sorry, Terra... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I'm sorry I couldn't-" Before Sanza could say another word, Terra had wrapped her arms tightly around him, pulling him close to her and kissing him deeply on the lips. He didn't try to pull away, he just let himself be kissed, his body limp in Terra's arms.

"Don't say that, Sanza, you were the one who saved _me_..." Terra couldn't put the feeling into words, but seeing Sanza fight so hard to save her, even against someone as powerful as Slade, gave her an energized feeling. It inspired her, made her determined to try and get free, so that if Sanza was defeated, she could protect him. "I've never seen anyone fight so hard before, you didn't beat Slade, but you gave me strength, Sanza, you-"

"Terra, don't try to comfort me, I lost, and because of me, you nearly got killed."

"Because of you, I'm alive... please believe me when I say that..."

And again, Terra clutched Sanza's hands tightly in hers, looking deeply into his eyes and trying to make him believe that he really did inspire her to escape Slade's clutches.

"_Either way, I still couldn't beat Slade with your life hanging in the balance... you were right there, and I couldn't save you..." _Another tear fell from Sanza's eyes, but before he could wipe it away, the door to the room opened, and Robin entered. Terra and Sanza quickly parted from one another, Sanza lying back down in his bed, and Terra reclining in her chair.

"I see you're finally awake," said Robin, trying to encourage Sanza with a smile. "Did Terra tell you everything that happened?"

"She told me how she saved me..." Sanza replied, sighing.

"Well, I just want you to know that your wounds will heal up in a few days... Raven wasn't able to heal them entirely, but your nose is pretty much all better, and that wound on your chest is already starting to close. Terra, your rib will probably be better in a few days too, you just have to keep it taped up and make sure nothing hits it really hard."

"Thanks, Robin," said Terra, who then turned to Sanza and placed a gentle hand on his bandaged chest. "Do you feel any better than you did when you woke up?"

"I just woke up ten minutes ago, Terra... but yeah, I kinda do..." As the initial shock of waking up and seeing both Terra and himself mostly unharmed began to wear off, a few other thoughts had entered Sanza's mind. He could worry about his insecurities later, there were a couple of people he hadn't seen in two weeks that probably wouldn't be happy that he'd been hurt. "Robin, have my mom and sister been over here?"

"We called them right after Terra brought you in," said Robin, "they both came in as soon as they could, but then your mom got called away to a business meeting, and she's probably still over there right now."

"And Maddy?" inquired Terra. "She's still here, isn't she?"

"She's somewhere in the Tower..." said Robin. "I can probably go get her right now if you want."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Sanza was trying to be as positive as he possibly could, hoping to save his worries about not being able to beat Slade for a later time.

"And if there's anything else you need, just ask."

Sanza shook his head, and Robin started to leave the room... but he could see the insecurity reflected in Sanza's eyes, and he knew that the young warrior's ordeal with Slade had taken quite a toll.

"Don't worry about it, Sanza... you weren't even wearing the Red X suit, and Terra told me that you put up quite a fight... I know you've improved, we'll see just how much you've improved once we find out who Slade's going after."

Sanza let out another sigh, giving a slight nod as Robin exited the room... but even with the Red X suit, Sanza wasn't sure whether he ever wanted to see Slade again. He wasn't even sure whether he wanted to put on the suit again...

"Sanza... listen to what Robin said, once you get that suit back on I bet you'll be kicking more butt than ever!" said Terra, trying to be as encouraging to Sanza as she could. Sanza gave her the same uneasy nod he gave to Robin, prompting Terra to remind Sanza of another encouraging fact. "I bet you'll feel a whole lot better when you see Maddy again. The whole time she was in here, she was telling me how proud of you she was..."

"_She _always _does that..." _Sanza thought. _"Even when I screw up, she's always trying to make me feel better..."_

And she usually succeeded.

O-O-O

While Maddy watched television with Starfire in the main room, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg were standing in one of the Tower's many hallways, discussing the revelations that the past few hours had brought. They'd all seen the exhausted Terra, carrying Sanza into the Tower after undergoing what must've been the most hellish experience of her life. It was a moment that illustrated to each of them the importance of dealing with Slade as soon as possible.

"I just keep thinking that we shoulda seen this coming," Cyborg muttered to himself, shaking his head. "That hangar, that plane... who else could Slade have been targeting?"

"He could've been going after anyone, dude!" Beast Boy replied. "Remember, Jericho's letter said that the guy Slade was going after could be anywhere in the country."

"And besides," Raven said quietly, "even if we would've gone to get Sanza and Terra, we'd have ended up passing Terra on her way back. As close a call as it was, Terra obviously was able to handle the situation."

Raven just thanked whatever merciful deity it was that allowed her to be there and fully charged up to heal both Sanza and Terra in their time of need. By the time Terra had gotten Sanza back to Titans Tower, he was near death.

"I just can't help but think how Sanza feels right now," said Cyborg. "All that training, and he couldn't even-"

"He's just an ordinary teenage boy," Raven replied. "Nowhere near the level of training that Robin's had. He's lucky he was even able to give Slade the fight that he did."

"Luck had nothing to do with it," said Cyborg. "Robin told me about how hard the True Master trained _him_... I bet Sanza's _way _better than he used to be."

"And Slade still kicked his butt," added Beast Boy, bowing his head. "And Terra's too... I feel so bad for her..."

Even now, Raven could sense the fear and uncertainty coming from the nearby infirmary, vibes sent off by both Sanza and Terra. As soon as the girl set foot in the Tower, a crush of emotions hit the empath's mind like a speeding truck, and Raven saw almost everything that had happened back in that temple.

"_They're both going to have nightmares for quite some time..." _Raven thought, closing her eyes and allowing a brief moment of sadness to enter her mind. _"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, Terra... no one deserves to suffer like that."_

O-O-O

Escorted by Starfire, Maddy entered the infirmary and ran over to her ailing brother, who sat up in the bed and allowed his sister to wrap her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Sanza... I was so worried for you, when I saw you lying in that bed I thought you weren't gonna wake up, I..."

Maddy trailed off, her words muffled as Sanza buried her face in his chest. He winced in pain as Maddy's cheek pressed against his bandaged wound, but that pain was soon numbed when his sister's arms tightened around his body.

"I missed you so much, Maddy... I thought I'd never see you again..."

After the hug, Maddy stood up and smiled, wiping a single tear away from her right eye. She looked over at Terra, who'd already told the twelve-year-old all about how she managed to save herself and Sanza from Slade's clutches.

"I guess you already thanked Terra...?"

"I did, but she didn't accept it," said Maddy, giving the blonde her warmest smile. "She said that you fought so hard against Slade that it inspired her to break herself free... you know, I think you both saved each other, which is really romantic and cool! I'm just glad you're okay, Sanza... mom got really mad when her boss called her from work, she didn't yell at him but I could see on her face that she didn't want to go over there."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be here soon," said Sanza.

"If you want, you can sit in my chair until she comes back," Terra told Maddy, offering the girl her chair. Maddy shook her head, remaining next to Sanza and placing her right hand on the side of the bed.

"I think you need the chair more than I do... I've never broken a rib myself, but I can imagine how much that would hurt," said Maddy, her voice displaying a great deal of sympathy for Terra.

"It doesn't hurt now," Terra replied, though as she sat back down in the chair, a brief pain from the afflicted area made her wince slightly, and Maddy raised an eyebrow. "Really, it doesn't."

Starfire remained in the doorway of the room, watching the two siblings and Terra as they continued to converse. A smile lit up the Tamaranian's face... she was so relieved that both Sanza and Terra were doing well, and knew that the quicker the two of them recovered, the quicker they would be able to assist in the fight against Slade.

As Starfire continued to watch the group, a gloved hand tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned, she could see Robin standing behind her, a serious look on his face.

"We're gonna have a meeting in the main room... I just got a lead on where Slade's next target might be, I've pinpointed a city and if my calculations are correct, we're really going to need to stop him as quickly as we can."

Starfire nodded, then turned back toward Terra, who had heard Robin's whispering and was about to get up to attend the meeting. Starfire shook her head.

"You should stay with Sanza..." she whispered quietly. Terra tried to protest. "He needs you right now... it is all right, I will tell you everything when we are done."

Starfire and Robin walked away, and the door to the infirmary closed behind them. Terra turned back to Sanza, who had a slightly regretful expression on his face.

"You can go to that meeting if you want," said Sanza, "it's okay... Maddy's here, I can talk to her..."

Terra thought for a moment, having second thoughts about getting up to attend the meeting. Sanza _did _have Maddy to talk to, but somehow, Terra knew that she was still needed at Sanza's side... at the moment, she was the most comforting presence that Sanza had.

Abandoning her thoughts of returning to the meeting, Terra simply reached over and took Sanza's hands in hers, her fingers gently rubbing his skin.

"_It's okay, Sanza... and besides, I think I might still need you too..."_

O-O-O

While Terra continued to comfort Sanza in the infirmary, Robin and the other Titans were getting down to business. Robin's teammates sat on the couches facing the room's large television screen as their leader displayed several images on it, including a large map of Southern California.

"Every single trail I've followed concerning the men who once employed the assassin Jackal have all led to this region of the state," said Robin, "and because all of them except for one are dead, it really cuts down on the number of false leads."

"Yeah, but this guy probably knows Slade's still after him," stated Cyborg. "Wouldn't he probably be in the Witness Protection Program or something?"

"He is," Robin continued, "and I've had to cut through a lot of red tape to even get this close to finding him. I can't pin him down yet, but I'm almost certain he now resides somewhere in Los Angeles County, in one of the suburbs of Los Angeles, or..."

"Los Angeles itself," said Raven, crossing her arms over her chest.

"...LA?" Beast Boy said excitedly, almost jumping from the couch. "We're gonna go to LA?!"

"Not yet," said Robin, "like I said, there are still a few more searches I need to run, but-"

"What if he's in Beverly Hills?" Beast Boy cried, unable to contain his growing enthusiasm. "Think about it! Swimming pools! Movie stars!"

Raven quickly elbowed Beast Boy hard in his side, quickly stifling his excitement and bringing him back down to a sitting position. At this point, Starfire chimed in.

"Perhaps if one of us does a preliminary search? I would like to volunteer... I believe I could cover a large area of the city in a short amount of time, and-"

"I don't think so, Starfire," Robin said, quickly shooting down Starfire's suggestion. "I don't want to send anyone until we know for sure, and even when I do send someone, I want to send _everyone_. Judging from what Slade did to Sanza and Terra, he's as dangerous as ever, if not more so. I don't want anyone getting hurt."

Robin could clearly see the disappointment on Starfire's face as he vetoed her suggestion. He trusted Starfire greatly, and believed that she probably had a good chance of finding Slade's intended target if she went out to the city... but he also knew that Slade was likely lurking just around the corner, waiting to pick off the Titans one by one if he got the chance. He'd caught Terra and Sanza at their most vulnerable, and had very nearly killed them... who knew what might happen if he got Starfire in his clutches?

"Question... if Slade knows where this guy is already, why hasn't he already killed him?"

Cyborg's question was certainly a valid one, and Robin briefly entertained the notion that perhaps Slade already had taken out the man in question. But Jericho's ominous warning implied that Slade had much bigger plans in store... involving some type of collateral damage designed to make an indelible mark on the world, a mark that would send a clear message: anyone who harmed Slade's loved ones would pay dearly. It was a revenge that Jericho deeply feared, which is why his letter practically begged the Titans to stop his father.

"Slade's planning to make a statement when he kills the last person responsible for crippling his son," said Robin, an intense look in his eyes as he spoke. "I'm thinking that that man isn't the only one who's in danger here... which is why I'm worried that Los Angeles could somehow be involved in Slade's revenge."

"And why we need to find exactly where Slade is going to strike as soon as possible," said Starfire.

"Exactly," Raven replied.

The front door opened, diverting the Titans' attention to that area of the room. Maria entered the Tower, briefcase in hand, an exhausted look on her face. At Terra's insistence, Cyborg had allowed Maria to borrow the T-Car to use to get to her meeting as quickly as possible... and to return quickly as well.

"Glad you're back... you didn't wreck my car, did you?"

"I couldn't wreck it if I tried, it drives like a dream..." replied Maria, gasping slightly as she spoke.

"...I guess Cyborg hasn't told you how he's wrecked it six times already."

"Two of those times were YOUR fault, BB!" Cyborg shouted angrily, raising up his fists.

"I remember where the infirmary is, if you want to escort me there anyway-"

"It's fine, Maria, go on ahead," said Robin, who then turned to his fellow Titans. "And we should continue as well."

O-O-O

When Maria entered the infirmary, she could see Sanza, Terra, and Maddy still talking amongst themselves... and when she saw that her son Sanza was finally awake, she felt her heart skip a beat. Not only had he awakened, but he appeared to have recovered quite a bit... he was talking, smiling, even laughing... it was enough to bring a tear to the woman's eye.

"Sanza... oh, Sanza...!" Maria ran over to her son, her next few words all in Spanish, most of them praises to God that her son had made such a quick recovery. She wrapped Sanza up tightly, her arms caressing his back, her chin resting on top of his head. As soon as she let Sanza go, she bent down and kissed him on the forehead, and then again, this time on the lips. "I'm so glad you're awake... are you hurting anywhere?"

"My chest just a bit... but other than that I'm fine..."

"Robin told me that Slade broke your nose, are you sure you're-"

"Mom, Raven healed it, it's not even really broken anymore... I don't think it's broken, anyway..." Sanza tried to reassure his mother as much as he could, but he knew it would be a tough sell... his mother's concern was not going to be diminished by just a few quick words.

"I can't believe Slade actually came all the way to that mountain in China to attack you... I knew he was vicious, but..." The concern in Maria's eyes quickly melted away, replaced by anger. She clenched her fists, and for a brief moment, thought of how much her son likely suffered at Slade's hands. "He needs to be stopped..."

"It's okay, mom... Sanza and Terra are going to stop him, right?"

A nervous look crossed both Terra and Sanza's faces, and Maria was quick to offer a stern refutation of her daughter's words.

"I don't even want Sanza thinking of going after Slade until he's made a full recovery... and even then, I..."

Maria bowed her head, knowing just how close she'd come to having her worst fears become horrible reality. Terra had told her everything, and she knew that had the blonde not gathered up the strength she needed to escape, both she and Sanza would be dead.

It was exactly why Maria was reluctant to continue allowing her son to be a hero... let alone a thief. Either way, she knew right where the Red X suit was... safely at home, tucked beneath her son's bed. She didn't know if she ever wanted her son putting on the suit again.

"I don't think Sanza should be thinking about Slade for a long time, Maddy..."

"Mom... I'm thinking about him right now," Sanza replied, leaning his head back into his pillow. "I keep seeing him... hurting me... hurting Terra..."

Sanza's hand was still gripping one of Terra's hands, and his grip tightened as soon as he mentioned Terra's name.

"He won't hurt you again, Sanza..." Terra said, trying to calm Sanza down. "And he won't hurt me again either."

"Terra's right," said Maria, "you need to get your rest... if you want to come home-"

"It's okay, I'll stay here for tonight and come home tomorrow... unless you _want _me to come home..."

Of course, Maria _did _want her son to come home... he'd been gone for more than two weeks, and she missed having him around... missed seeing him at every meal, missed standing in the doorway of his room as night and watching him as he slept... and every second that went by without Sanza at home was a worrisome ordeal for his mother. But she also knew that the Titans could take care of him at the Tower much better than she could at home... and knew that at least for the first night of his recovery, Sanza would be better off staying at the Tower.

But he was always welcome to come home if he wanted, and Maria wanted to make that clear.

"It's up to you, dear..." said Maria, reaching over and placing a hand on Sanza's forehead. "You don't have to go to school, they couldn't finish up the repairs, so classes are going to be out for one more week."

"Well, at least that's _something _I don't have to worry about," said Sanza, cracking a smile.

"Lucky..." muttered Maddy, crossing her arms across her chest. Though she was a very good student, she still found school intensely boring, and could see her friends outside of school all the time, so she didn't really have much of a desire to go unless there was a field trip. "At least I get to be at home for three weeks while you're going to school in the summer!"

"Mom," Sanza whined, feigning weakness while still smiling. "Maddy's bothering me, make her stop."

"Quit bothering your brother," said Maria.

"But it's truuuuuuue! Sanza's going to have to make up every day he missed, that's like fifteen days, so-"

As Maddy continued her playful pestering, Terra stood up from her chair and grabbed Maddy gently from behind, placing a hand over her mouth while using her other hand to pin Maddy's arms to her sides.

"Hey, no fair!" shouted Maddy behind Terra's hand. _"You KNOW I can't just elbow you in the ribs like I do to Sanza! Lemme go!"_

After a few seconds of futile struggling, Maddy was finally released by Terra, who sat down in her chair, giggling as Maddy playfully glared at her.

"Next time I'm gonna elbow you," said Maddy.

"Is that a threat?" replied Terra, reaching forward and pulling Maddy down into the chair with her. "I don't like being threatened, I'm just gonna have to deal with you..."

Terra began tickling Maddy's ribs as hard as she could, eliciting several loud laughs from Sanza's younger sister. As the two continued playing, Sanza and Maria both watched, smiling warmly. For Sanza, it was the first real moment of lighthearted joy he'd gotten since he'd awakened from his brief coma... and for Maria, it was yet another sign that she'd been right about Terra from the start...

"You know," Maria said quietly to Sanza, "Your sister _really _looks up to Terra..."

Sanza continued to watch the two girls as they sat together in the chair, Maddy still in Terra's lap, the recipient of an occasional tickle. The two of them had bonded so quickly, they'd become almost like sisters... and Sanza could see that Terra wanted to protect Maddy just as much as he did.

"I'm just glad my sister's happy... I can imagine she was worried when she found out about what happened."

"We both were, Sanza," said Maria, reaching over and taking her son's hand. "We both were."

Maria and Maddy stayed in the room for several hours, until Maria realized that it was past midnight, and Maddy probably needed to get back home and into bed. As reluctant as she was to leave her son, she was able to say her goodbyes fairly quickly, departing the room with Maddy after giving Sanza one last kiss. Once again, Sanza and Terra were left alone in the infirmary... and after more than thirty-six straight house of being awake, all of that activity was finally starting to catch up to Terra... she was barely able to keep her eyes open.

"Your sister... totally wore me out," said Terra, yawning as she spoke. "But on the bright side, my rib doesn't hurt anymore."

"It will," Sanza replied, "just wait until tomorrow..."

_Tomorrow. _That word now had new meaning for Sanza, who felt as if he'd been given another chance... given his life back after the most catastrophic failure he'd ever experienced. He feared sleep, feared that he would close his eyes and then wake up a second later and have all of this be a dream... his salvation an illusion, his freedom a lie... he feared he would wake up and see Terra beaten to within an inch of her life, just before his own life was coldly snuffed out.

"Sanza... I know you're still afraid, I know how that feels..." Terra gave Sanza a look of concern, knowing how guilty he still felt about 'letting her down'... but he hadn't let her down, not even for a second. No matter what happened, she would still love him... she would _always _love him. "But listen to me, okay? You can do whatever you want... that's the lesson you taught _me_."

Once again, Sanza was ashamed to look at Terra. He turned his head away from her, and turned it even more when she put her hand on his cheek. She moved her hand away, yawning again and trying to think of what Sanza might say to comfort her if she was in this situation. After a moment of pondering, she started to speak again.

"You can't just spend your life moping around like some emo kid, you've gotta get back up on the horse, and go, um... kick some fucking ass!"

Sanza looked over at Terra, quizzically raising an eyebrow. All she could offer him was a nervous smile, complete with an oversized bead of sweat on the right side of her forehead. This was too much for Sanza, who started to laugh loudly, immediately followed by Terra's laughter, which was accompanied by a third yawn.

"Okay, now I _know _you're getting tired, maybe you should get some rest... I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I should probably sleep on it too."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," said Terra, getting up from her chair. She started to exit the room, but then she got another idea, and turned back toward Sanza. "Is it okay if I, um... sleep in the same bed as you? If it's not too crowded, anyway..."

"It's never too crowded for you," said Sanza, smiling and scooting over so that Terra could lie down next to him. She climbed into the bed, snuggling up as close to Sanza as she could, her head nestled snugly beneath his chin as he pulled the bed's thin, white sheet over both of their bodies. _"This feels really nice..."_

"Mmmm... love you, Sanza..." Terra looked up into Sanza's eyes, her smiling lips just a couple of inches away from his face. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss, then wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to his body.

"Love you too..."

Terra fell asleep almost instantly. As much as she'd suffered over the past couple of days, being with Sanza gave her instant comfort that nothing else could... but for Sanza, that comfort wouldn't come quite so easily. Terra was safe _now_, but there was no reason that Slade couldn't strike again... and even with the Red X suit, Sanza had no idea if he could possibly stand up to Slade alone.

A single tear slid down Sanza's face as he drifted off into an uneasy sleep... and within hours, he would experience his first nightmare of many to come.

O-O-O

While Terra slept easily, and Sanza not so much, the Teen Titans were awake and alert... Robin was busily trying to track down the exact coordinates of Slade's next target, while Beast Boy was in the kitchen, preparing a late night snack. He was making a ham and egg sandwich, though the ham and eggs were made entirely of tofu. As he prepared to take his first bite, he could see someone else entering the kitchen, humming a song to herself as she walked by.

"Starfire...?"

"I have merely come to retrieve a soda for Robin," said Starfire. "His eyelids appear as if gigantic Sanmarian Tulrogs have been attached to them."

"Oooh, the big R needs a caffeine buzz, huh? Yeah, I know _that _feeling."

As Starfire fished for a soda in the refrigerator, she decided to continue her conversation with Beast Boy, having noticed a very pronounced reaction in the minutes immediately following Terra's return to the Tower.

"Tell me, Beast Boy... when Terra came back after experiencing the night of much suffering and regret, you looked as if you were about ready to cry... do you still have the feelings for her?"

The question came as a complete surprise to Beast Boy, who let out a squeal and dropped his sandwich to the floor.

"Starfire, she was really hurt... and Sanza too, of course I felt like crud... and yeah, that might've been a tear or two in my eye, but... what about you, you were practically bawling your eyes out!"

"This is true..." said Starfire, a sad look on her face as she turned back toward Beast Boy, soda in hand. "But you seemed particularly concerned about Terra, so I was just wondering..."

"Well, I mean... yeah, I have some feelings for Terra... she was like my first girlfriend ever, she was the first girl I really loved..."

As kind as Starfire was, and as much as Beast Boy admired her, he wasn't exactly comfortable opening up his deepest feelings to her. He was more comfortable opening up to Raven, who could sense exactly how he felt as he was speaking to her... and of course, he was starting to have feelings for her as well, so that was another reason.

"Starfire, you know how it took Robin a really long time to finally admit that he... you know, that he liked you?"

"Well, yes, but most of that was because he was trying to protect me... it took me a very long time to convince him that I was capable of protecting _myself_, and even then, he still worries about me..."

Starfire clearly remembered the day's earlier episode, when Robin had prevented her from going out to find Slade's next target on her own. Though he was at least a _bit _comfortable with telling her how he felt about her, he still worried about her everyday, and the recent incident with Sanza and Terra had convinced him even more that he had to be concerned for her.

"...well, I kind of feel the same way about Raven that you feel about Robin, so-"

"Oh, that is wonderful!" Starfire squealed, nearly dropping her can of soda in excitement. "I eagerly await the day when you and Raven share the non-language learning lip lock!"

"Yeah, well, _she _doesn't," Beast Boy groaned, staring down at the floor. "How am I supposed to get her to like me? I mean, she doesn't like to show emotion at all, so even if she DID like me, how am I supposed to know?"

"...when she is truly ready to exchange the feelings with you, you will know," said Starfire, placing a hand on Beast Boy's cheek. "It will be the same expression that you saw from Terra when _she _started to like you."

"I'm not so sure... Raven and Terra are like, two total opposites... I can't _believe _I actually like them both, but I do! It's so weird..."

"...and you and Sanza are _not_ the total opposites?"

"Not exactly... I mean, we _both _wanna protect Terra... and we both wanna kick Slade's butt... and I kinda thought about becoming a thief before I joined the Doom Patrol, so..."

"Then perhaps," said Starfire, placing the can of soda on a nearby table so that she could put both of her hands on Beast Boy's shoulders, "Raven and Terra are not so very different either. They have both worked very hard to control their powers, they both truly wish to do good and to protect others, and maybe, just maybe, they both like you... except perhaps in different ways."

Beast Boy took several seconds to think about what Starfire said, and it didn't make all that much sense... then again, there wasn't too much that made sense to Beast Boy anyway. Still, he did feel a bit better after hearing Starfire's words, and in gratitude, he transformed into a kitten and leaped into Starfire's arms. Giggling, she cuddled Beast Boy to her chest for a few seconds before placing him on the table and picking up Robin's soda.

"Perhaps you should try doing _that _for Raven," said Starfire, smiling happily as she exited the kitchen. "You never know until you try!"

After Starfire had left, Beast Boy transformed back into his normal self, sitting on the counter and dangling his legs off the edge. As he looked down, he could see the remains of his ham and egg sandwich lying on the floor.

"...how many seconds has it been? I know it's been more than five... but in _dog seconds_..."

Dismissing any doubts with his absurd justification, Beast Boy leapt down from the counter and transformed into a dog, licking up the sandwich and barking happily as he walked out of the room.

O-O-O

The next morning, Sanza pulled himself out of bed, being careful not to disturb the deeply slumbering Terra. He'd had a terrible nightmare, and had awoken twice already, but both times he managed to avoid screaming, or anything that would wake up the exhausted girl sleeping beside him.

"_I already owe her for saving my life... I'd hate to wake her up after all she's done for me..."_

Sanza could feel the stiffness in his legs as he exited the room, buttoning up his blue hospital gown as he walked down the hallway to the kitchen. He felt embarrassed to be walking around in a gown, especially in front of some of the Titans... and so he was relieved when he didn't see any of them on his way down to the kitchen. He hadn't eaten in more than a day, and he could hear his stomach growling as he prepared himself a breakfast of cereal, bacon, eggs, and a large stack of pancakes.

All the movement he was making agitated the bruises and wounds he'd received in his battle with Slade... he winced every time one of his aching muscles flared up, just another reminder of how futile he ultimately was.

"_I never even got _close _to beating him... I didn't just fail Terra, I failed the True Master... she died and I didn't even get the chance to tell her how much I appreciated her training..."_

Sanza could feel the tears welling up in his eyes again, but he wiped them away as he flipped the pancake he was making, waiting for it to turn a nice golden-brown before placing it in a stack with the others. He could see someone approaching out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned toward the kitchen entrance, he could see Raven walking toward him, her hood down to reveal her face.

"Glad to see you on your feet again... I think you might be able to remove that thing from your nose."

Sanza instinctively reached up to his face, where he could feel the piece of plastic still covering up his once-broken nose. He gently peeled it off, poking the tip of his nose with his fingers a couple of times. It still felt a bit sore, but didn't feel broken.

"I could feel the bones repairing themselves when I healed it, but Robin thought it might be a bit tender for a day or two, so he put that thing on... I couldn't heal the cut on your chest entirely, you might have a scar there once it heals."

"...thank you, Raven," said Sanza, walking over and offering to give her a hug. She shook her head and waved him off, humbly declining his offer.

"It's nothing, it's what I do and that's all," Raven replied. "Though I guess if you want to make me a cup of tea, I might go for it."

Sanza returned to the stove, checking on his eggs as they cooked on one of the burners. As he did, Raven could sense the turmoil still taking place in his mind... she'd never seen him this unconfident, even after the debacle with Cleo.

"These things happen, Sanza."

"Excuse me...?" he replied, looking over at Raven.

"I couldn't tell you how many times Robin's been unable to save Starfire... for all the times he takes out the bad guy and saves the day, there's a time when she's had to save _him_. She's strong, just as strong as Terra... no one's perfect."

"I trained... for _two weeks_..."

"And how long do you think Robin's trained? Sanza, I saw that fight, I read Terra's mind as soon as she came back to the Tower. For someone with no special powers and only two weeks of intense combat training, you put up an incredible fight."

"I never got close to beating him, and he'd gone through two people WAY stronger than me."

Sanza bowed his head, not caring that his eggs were beginning to burn. Raven saved them in the nick of time, using her powers to move the pan off the burner and to scoop the eggs onto a plate with a spatula. She could already sense that Sanza was in terrible emotional pain, she didn't want to intensify the problem by letting his breakfast burn. She walked over to Sanza and tried to place her hand on his shoulder, but he waved her off, keeping his head bowed as he leaned back against the oven.

"Do you know what it's like to see someone you love in danger... and not be able to do anything about it? That... that no matter how hard you try, and you fight, you still... you still can't do a single thing to save her?"

"...yes, and you saved us both," replied Raven, transferring into Sanza's mind the memory of when she'd been captured by Sedaris along with Terra. "And I learned something from that, I learned that I needed to appreciate Terra more. I didn't kick myself for not being strong enough, I knew there was nothing I could've done and I accepted that."

Sanza looked into Raven's eyes, not believing what he was hearing. She just... _accepted _not being strong enough to save herself and her friend? Wasn't she the one always meditating to try and make her powers stronger in the first place?

"So you're just saying that it's useless to try and get stronger?"

"No, you should _always _try to get stronger, but you should also know your limits. Nobody worked as hard as you did those past two weeks. You did everything you could, and THEN some."

"_I could have done MORE..." _thought Sanza, still unable to wrap his mind around the fact that he'd failed to protect Terra. _"I didn't train hard enough, I slacked off, it's my fault I failed!"_

"...you have to have faith."

Sanza looked into Raven's eyes again, her words more cryptic than ever. Was _she _trying to talk to _him _about religion?

"Let me explain," said Raven, "you see-"

"Dude! Duuuuuuuude!!!" Beast Boy ran into the kitchen, shrieking in an excited tone and bringing an abrupt end to Sanza and Raven's conversation. "Robin found Slade's next target! We know where he works, come on!"

O-O-O

Once again, the Titans had gathered in the Tower's main room, eagerly awaiting word from Robin on where Slade would strike next. Starfire and Cyborg were seated on one of the couches, and a few seconds later, Beast Boy entered, bringing Raven and a reluctant Sanza along with him. As soon as the three of them were seated, Robin addressed the team.

"It's just like I thought, and what I hoped wouldn't be the case," said Robin solemnly, pulling a file up on the screen. Pictured on the file was the face of a middle-aged man with dark brown hair that was slightly graying, the man wore a pair of glasses that slightly obscured his unusually blue eyes. "This is the man we're looking for, and the man Slade's targeting next."

"So... where does he work?" asked Cyborg. "You know the exact building?"

"C'mon, tell us...!!!" said Beast Boy excitedly. "Where are we going next?"

"The man we're looking for works at..."

O-O-O

The US Bank Tower, affectionately known by residents of Los Angeles as Library Tower, was the iconic pinnacle of the LA skyline. Standing at over a thousand feet tall, it was the tallest building in the city, tallest in the state, and tallest on the entire West Coast. To tourists, it was a beautiful and awe-inspiring sight, but to its many workers, it was just the average, humdrum place where they toiled away their mornings and afternoons engrossed in pointless office work and TPS reports.

And to Yancey Aylesworth, regional human resources manager of Allison Securities Corporation, it was as dull as dull could be... seated in his 59th floor office, he stared listlessly at his computer screen, shuffling through endless personnel folders and trying to weed out any workers he could afford to downsize.

He peered at the screen through his thin, frameless glasses, brushing his hand through his hair and wondering just what had gotten him to this position in the world. At 42, he'd seen and done more in his life than anyone else in the building... but because of one fateful decision, he'd had to give up all of that and relegate himself to working for the man, at a well-paying but completely unfulfilling job, one that bored him to no end.

"Ulrich Richardson, I think I can cut him loose..." Aylesworth muttered to himself, scanning through one of his worker's files. "Two year degree, he knows a lot about the business, but cutting him won't look bad if he decides to sue my ass..."

As Aylesworth continued going through files, his young secretary poked her head into the room.

"Mr. Aylesworth, someone's calling for you, he says it's urgent, but I know how busy you are..."

"Too busy to take _that _call, that's for sure," he replied, quickly typing out an e-mail on his computer. "Tell 'em to call me back in about two hours."

The secretary exited, leaving the busy man alone with his work. Just a few years ago, his job had been _much _more exiting... he was one of the world's most influential powerbrokers, working behind the scenes to manipulate governments and economies around the world. One fateful day, he'd crossed paths with a mercenary named Slade Wilson... and it was on that day that the lives of Aylesworth and his co-conspirators had changed forever. They'd hired a terrorist known as the Jackal to try and deal with Slade, but they never anticipated that Jackal would involve Slade's family... and that he'd leave the job of killing Slade unfinished.

One by one, Aylesworth's companions had been hunted down and killed by Slade. The deaths had prompted him to join the Witness Protection Program, where he'd gain a new life and full immunity in exchange for giving up a bunch of names. Yancey Aylesworth wasn't even the man's name, but it sounded ordinary enough... and it had kept him safe all this time.

He had no way of knowing that his final mission was about to come back to bite him in a big way.


	23. City Of Guardian Angels

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

"So... Slade's next target's in Los Angeles?"

"That's what Robin said," replied Sanza, who'd gone back to the infirmary to let Terra know everything he'd heard. Fortunately, she'd awakened just before he entered the room, so he didn't have to wake her. "The Titans are heading out today to warn him... I'm not going with them."

Only a day removed from the horrific ordeal at the True Master's shrine, Sanza was still in no condition, physical _or _mental, to accompany the Titans on their next mission. He didn't even know if he'd ever become Red X again, and he wasn't about to take on Slade until he'd gotten his confidence back.

"I'm glad they found him, I mean... I want the Titans to take Slade out too, but..." Still lying in bed, Terra turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Sanza was right, her injured ribs _were _sore, moreso today than they'd been before she'd fallen asleep. Her ankle hurt too, it was no longer bruised or swollen, but the aftereffects of twisting it still remained, and she grimaced as a dull pain radiated from her lower leg. "But I'm not sure if I should go with them either."

"Terra... you're a Teen Titan, I'm sure they're gonna want you to go with them... as much as I want you to stay."

"It's okay, Sanza," said Terra, turning back toward him and placing a hand on his shoulder. She could see that Sanza felt guilty about wanting Terra to stay with him... he knew that she was part of the team, and if the Titans were going after Slade, Terra needed to go too. "I want to stay with you as long as it takes for... well... for you to recover."

Sanza let out another sigh as a sudden feeling of inadequacy hit. He leaned back into his chair, only to feel his shoulder blades tingling with pain.

_"I'm not usually like this, I mean... normally I'm always looking out for myself, if I wanted Terra to stay with me, then the Titans shouldn't matter! Maybe I'm just worried for _her_, I mean... last time Terra and I were alone together, Slade attacked... what's to say he wouldn't come back and attack us again?"_

"Sanza, if you're not going, I'm not going," said Terra, a sudden resoluteness entering her voice. "The Titans can handle this until we get over there. Don't feel like you have to rush _anything_, okay?"

But Terra wasn't just staying with Sanza for _his _sake. She was scared of Slade, just as scared as Sanza was... and the only reason she hadn't had a nightmare about him during her first sleep since returning to the Tower is because she was so tired. She wasn't ready to get back into action either, not by a long shot... and she blamed herself for endangering Sanza as much as he blamed himself for endangering her.

_"But if I told him _that_, it'd just make him feel even worse... he doesn't need to concern himself with my problems, I've gotta be as confident as I can be... I have to be brave for both of us."_

"Thanks, Terra..." said Sanza, though his tone was clearly unsure. "I know I can get over this, I just need a day or two."

The door to the room slid open, and Robin entered, followed by the other Titans, all of them ready to head out to Los Angeles. Beast Boy had even exchanged his normal clothing for a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, much to Raven's intense annoyance.

"Terra, I know this is really short notice, but... we're going after Slade today," said Robin.

"Or at least the guy Slade's going after... which will probably lead us to Slade sooner or later," Cyborg added.

"You coming?" Robin asked.

"I... I can't," Terra replied, briefly glancing at Sanza before looking back at the rest of her team. "I know you guys probably need me, but... Sanza needs me too, and-"

"We understand," said Raven quietly. "Robin, we should probably go."

Robin was obviously disappointed with Terra's answer. Certainly, the timing of the discovery of Slade's target could've been a bit better. Terra was likely still traumatized, as well as weak from her injuries, but these are the kind of issues superheroes had to deal with. He'd fought through worse before, the whole team had, and he was willing to do anything he could to convince Terra to come with the team.

"Terra, if there's anything you need to talk about, we're all here for you..." said Robin. "You've got an excellent support system here, I know what Slade did to you and Sanza must have been terrible, but we can work through it..."

"Yes, please accompany us to Los Angeles!" Starfire cheerfully added, walking over to Terra and putting on her best smile. "We will see all of the wonderful sights together, and we can talk about anything... and I will sing to you the song of cheerful memories!"

Much to her team's discomfort, Starfire opened her mouth to begin singing... and surprisingly, launched into a quiet, beautiful melody.

"Wow, Star, I never knew you had such an awesome singing voice... what with all that screaming-" commented Beast Boy, before Starfire finished the first section of the song and made a comment of her own.

"That was just the first verse, now for the chorus!"

And then came the screaming.

"STARFIRE!!!" Terra shouted over the din, helpfully covering Sanza's ears up with her hands while screaming at Starfire at the top of her lungs. "IT'S FINE! SANZA AND I WILL CATCH UP WITH YOU!!!"

Starfire stopped singing immediately, blinking her eyes and backing away.

"...I've made up my mind," Terra continued, "I'm staying with Sanza until we're both ready to come out to LA with you. We'll be there in a day, two days tops. Really."

"It might be too late by then," said Robin, a hint of anger in his voice. He quickly lightened up, but only a bit, resigning himself to the fact that Terra wouldn't be coming with the rest of the team. "All right, just come out as soon as you can."

Grateful that Robin had accepted her decision not to come out to Los Angeles with the team, Terra breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back onto the bed, her feet dangling off the side while the rest of her body lay flat on its surface. Something else came to her mind, and she quickly sat back up to address it.

"I guess you guys don't want us by ourselves in the tower... right?"

_"Heh, they probably don't want me stealing anything else..." _thought Sanza mischievously, _"though in my condition, I don't think I could get their big-screen TV out of the tower..."_

"Eh, I trust you guys," said Cyborg, before catching a glimpse of Sanza's sly smile. "Well, I trust Terra, and I think she can keep Mr. Thief here under control, so-"

"I don't have a problem with Sanza staying here while he recovers, but I would hope that he goes home as soon as he's feeling better," said Robin, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I feel pretty good now, actually," Sanza replied, _"physically, at least..."_

Terra turned to Sanza, and then to Robin... and then back to Sanza again.

"Sanza, would your mom mind me staying over with you guys for a while?"

"Uh..." Sanza blinked his eyes, surprised that Terra would make such a bold offer... "well, I mean, my mom rented out the bottom floor for a month, and it's only been like three weeks, so... yeah, I guess you can stay down there for a week."

"Awesome!" said Terra, getting up from the bed and turning to Robin again. "I'm gonna stay at Sanza's place."

This was a surprising _and _pleasing development for Sanza, who couldn't help smiling and blushing a bit at the notion that his girlfriend would be sleeping just two floors below him for the next few days. Robin didn't seem to have any problems with it, and neither did the other Titans... after all, it wasn't their apartment Terra would be sleeping in.

"Just try to come out as soon as you can," said Robin, "and be careful, okay?"

"Yes... we shall miss you greatly while we are away!" Starfire said, walking over to Terra and attempting to give her one of her bonecrushing hugs... only to be stopped by Sanza's arm, blocking Starfire's attempt. "Oh... yes, I forgot about your rib, well-"

"You can hug Sanza for both of us," said Terra, "just hug him around the stomach, not the chest, okay?"

Starfire nodded, picking Sanza up from his chair and wrapping her arms tightly around his lower midsection, squeezing the air from his body and causing him to expel it in one loud breath. While Starfire was hugging her injured friend, Beast Boy came up and gave Terra a much lighter hug, whispering in her ear for her to take good care of Sanza.

"I will, Beast Boy," she whispered back, "and you take good care of Raven for me, all right?"

After the Titans had said their goodbyes to Sanza and Terra, the two were once again left alone in the infirmary together. Terra was still slightly tired, but she was confident that she could fly herself and Sanza across the bay to the Salazars' apartment building, and though he was still hurting, Sanza finally felt ready to come back home. The two went up to the roof of Titans Tower, and after a few seconds of preparation, Terra levitated a platform of rock beneath Sanza and herself, using her powers to guide it quickly and safely to the apartment roof.

_"It's good to be home..." _thought Sanza as he stepped off the rock.

O-O-O

And he thought it again as he got dressed, losing the hospital gown and exchanging it for a black t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Terra had no clothes of her own to change into, so Maria offered to allow Terra to wear some of her clothing, which was practically the same size, though they fit a bit loose on Terra's slightly skinnier frame.

"So... you're sure it's okay if I live in the apartment downstairs for a few days?" Terra asked a bit nervously as she put on one of Maria's red blouses. "I mean, I didn't even ask before coming-"

"You can stay here as long as you need to," Maria replied, leaning against the frame of the doorway and smiling over at Terra. "You have to promise me one thing, though."

"Oh...?"

"You'll eat _everything _I put in front of you."

Terra raised one of her eyebrows, then looked down at the blouse, which was sagging a bit from her midsection, even after she buttoned it up. She looked back up at Maria, who was giggling to herself in the doorway.

"I am _not _that skinny!!!"

Maria turned and left the room, still giggling as she made her way down the hall. Terra smirked to herself before picking out one of Maria's belts and tightening it around her waist to keep the pair of size-six jeans she was wearing from sagging down to her knees.

_"Okay, maybe I'm _almost _that skinny."_

After putting on some of Maria's clothes, Terra exited the bedroom and walked out to the living room, where Sanza was seated in the recliner, watching one of the morning talk shows. He scooted over to allow Terra to sit next to him, placing an arm around her waist as soon as she'd sat down.

Sanza was finally home, and it was a wonderful feeling... and having Terra there beside him made it more wonderful than anything he'd ever experienced. He wouldn't give it up for anything in the world... but he knew that in order to get rid of Slade once and for all, he would have to.

_"I can't stay at home like this forever... not while the Titans are out fighting Slade... one day I'm going to have to put that suit on again... make Slade pay for everything he did to me, and to Terra..."_

But for now, Sanza was content exactly where he was... and afraid to move even an inch for fear that it would all be violently taken away.

O-O-O

The T-Jet landed at Los Angeles International Airport, where a crowd of admirers had already gathered to greet the Titans as they stepped off the plane.

_"I can't believe it..." _Robin thought, watching the growing crowd of fans as Cyborg guided the plane toward a private airstrip near the back of the airport. _"How'd they know we were coming, and how'd they get back here?"_

The Titans' flight path had been documented by airport staff, and the staff's gossip spread quickly... by the time the plane arrived, hundreds of fans had gathered... they were screaming, holding up signs, jumping into the air... basically doing anything that they could to get the Titans' attention.

"We should've gone to Van Nuys or something..." Raven muttered under her breath. "This is ridiculous."

"I didn't think LAX would be so crowded," Cyborg said as he brought the plane in for a landing.

"Then you weren't thinking," replied Raven, putting up her hood to cover her face. "I think you _wanted _to be greeted by screaming fans."

"Make way, make way, the Beastman is coming through!" Beast Boy declared as soon as the plane came to a stop. He opened up his section of the plane and climbed out, into the arms of dozens of screaming girls. "Don't worry, ladies, there's _more _than enough of me to go around!"

The others Titans emerged from the jet a few seconds later, sifting through the crowd as best as they could. Cyborg was having a great deal of trouble containing his immense excitement, and Starfire regretted not being able to greet at least a few of her fans... but Robin and Raven were all business, keeping their heads down, their eyes locked in intense concentration.

"Hey guys, LA's just an hour or two from Titans Tower, why don't we come down here more often?" asked Beast Boy, signing an autograph for one of his female fans.

_"If you don't get your head in the game so we can beat Slade, there won't BE an LA left to come back to," _said Raven telepathically to Beast Boy, reaching through the crowd and grabbing him by the wrist. _"Now come on! We've got work to do."_

The Titans escaped from the crowd of fans, which continued to follow them as they made their way across the long tarmac. Soon, a crowd of reporters approached, cameras and notepads in hand, and the Titans were blinded by the glare of dozens of flashbulbs in their eyes. The reporters' questions came lightning fast, one after the other, much too quick for the Titans to answer.

"What are you doing here in Los Angeles?"

"Have you come to film a movie?"

"Is it true that Robin's dating Lindsay Lohan?"

Cyborg couldn't help but snicker at that last one, but Robin didn't dignify a single one of the questions, continuing to push past the reporters and fans, the stern look remaining on his face. Normally, he wouldn't mind the rockstar treatment, and might even take the time to hold a press conference right there at the airport... but this was a special case.

This was Slade.

_"We have to find Slade and save not only the man he's after, but this whole city as well... I can't waste time here, we have to get to Library Tower right now!"_

"Something just occured to me," said Raven quietly, glancing over at Robin. "Some of us can fly."

Robin stopped in his tracks, mentally cursing himself for not thinking of that before. He turned to the rest of his team and quickly gave the order.

"Titans, GO!"

Starfire and Raven nodded, and the two girls picked up Robin and Cyborg respectively, lifting off into the sky and far away from the maddening crowds. Beast Boy kept his feet on the ground, soaking up the attention as long as he could... but one look from Raven quickly directed his attention back to the task at hand, and he transformed into an eagle before soaring up into the sky with his teammates. The group headed into downtown Los Angeles, all focusing on the same task... to warn the man known as Yancey Aylesworth that he was in Slade's sights.

Then, they would use him to lure Slade out... beating him before he could cause any damage to Aylesworth or to the city. If all went according to plan, Slade would be defeated by the end of the day... but somehow, Robin knew it wouldn't be that easy.

O-O-O

Aylesworth's secretary was a tall, pretty woman, her long, brown hair tied into a ponytail behind her head. She crossed her legs beneath her as she sat at her desk and handled all the phone calls and visitors that came into her employer's office, chewing on a fairly large wad of gum in an attempt to alleviate some of the tedium of her work. She'd just set her phone down when the five Teen Titans entered.

"...can I help you people?" asked the secretary, her eyes widening as the costumed teenagers walked up to her desk. "Wait a minute, don't tell me... you're the Teen Titans, right?"

"We need to see your boss, _right now_," said Robin, cutting right to the chase.

"Yeah, okay, see, the thing is... Mr. Aylesworth's extremely busy, like all the time, and nobody gets in to see him without an appointment. Not you guys, not the president, not even his mother goes in to see him without an appointment."

"Someone is going to try to kill him," Robin said sternly.

The secretary's mouth widened, and the wad of gum could clearly be seen about to fall out of it, a tendril of drool dropping from the side of her lip. She quickly closed her mouth back up, swallowing some of the juices from the gum and staring at the Titans with a wide-eyed expression.

"...this isn't some kind of joke, is it?"

"This is _not _a joke," said Cyborg.

"We need to see Mr. Aylesworth _now_," Robin repeated.

Nodding meekly, the secretary walked over to the doors of Aylesworth's office and poked her head into the room.

"Mr. Aylesworth, sir, someone's here to see you-"

"I told you, Clarissa, I'm not taking any visitors today. Not now, not for the rest of the day."

"It's the Teen Titans, sir. They say someone's trying to kill you."

Aylesworth's face went pale, and he knew immediately who it was that would be trying to take his life. His hands began to tremble, and the pencil he was holding dropped from his hands and clattered against his desk.

"...send them in," he said nervously, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. _"So... he's found me... the bastard's finally found me... this is NOT good."_

Clarissa gently shut the door and walked back over to her chair, sitting down and bowing her head. As the Titans started making their way toward Aylesworth's office, Robin turned to the slightly frightened woman and gave her a bit of advice.

"You'd better go home."

Clarissa nodded, quickly getting her things together and shuffling out of the office. It was quite obvious to her that whoever was targeting her boss had to be extremely dangerous for the Teen Titans to get involved... and whenever he struck, she didn't want to be anywhere nearby.

The five Titans entered Aylesworth's office, a well-organized room with a large window that overlooked the rest of the city. Aylesworth had already gotten up from his chair, walking around in front of his desk and standing at attention, looking over at the Titans as they assembled before him.

"So... you already know?" asked Robin, seeing in the man's eyes a fearful, but informed expression. "You know that Slade's the one who's coming here to kill you?"

"Three years I've known that Slade was going to try and kill me," Aylesworth said as he nodded. "Ever since that man my associates and I hired to take him out went after his family instead. It was never my intention to get Slade's family involved, of course... I didn't even know he _had _a family. Back then, I didn't even know his name was Slade. We knew him back then as Deathstroke the Terminator... and he damn sure lived up to that name."

Robin's mind began racing, the Boy Wonder knew well of Slade's criminal past... all the research he'd done after the mastermind's multiple attacks had told him all he needed to know... but Aylesworth's perspective was a spin that Robin never heard before, and the other Titans knew even less.

"Wait a minute... Deathstroke the Terminator?" asked Beast Boy, scratching his head. "So... Slade's his real name?"

"I suppose he started going by his real name to honor his crippled son," Aylesworth said. "I've never had kids of my own, and knowing what I know about Deathstroke, I'm glad I never did... otherwise, he'd be going after them."

"Start from the beginning," said Cyborg, curious to know as much as he could about Slade's life before coming to Jump City.

"We don't have time," Robin replied, "we need to get you out of the building as soon as-"

"I'll be brief," said Aylesworth, leaning back into his desk and telling the Titans as much as he was willing to let them know... an ex-criminal himself, he didn't want them to know _too _much, lest they arrest him once this whole business with Slade was over and done with... though even if they did, his immunity would likely keep him safe from any prison. "I used to work with a secret organization that funneled a great deal of money into businesses and industries around the world... basically, money-laundering on a gargantuan scale, though we got to keep a _huge _amount of the profits for ourselves. Once our group got rich enough, we started exerting a great deal of influence on the countries we were working with, and soon, became powerful enough to control the governments of many of those countries."

"Countries like...?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not this one, but as for the others, it might be best if you didn't know," said Aylesworth, placing his hands into his pockets. "Our operation was running pretty smoothly for a while, until a bunch of people we were working with started getting killed right and left. Basically, the United States government didn't like what we were doing, and hired this guy named Deathstroke to correct the problem."

"Slade..." Robin muttered under his breath.

"The fucker kept killing the leaders we were trying to prop up. It got _real _annoying after a while, so we decided to send some guy named the Jackal out to deal with him. Unfortunately, he wasn't the master assassin he claimed to be, and Deathstroke... Slade, whatever, beat the shit out of him."

"Maybe you could tone the swearing down a little bit?" Cyborg requested.

"Who do you think you are, my mother or something? Fuck you. Anyway, it turns out that Jackal's a psychopath. When he couldn't beat Deathstroke normally, he tracked down the guy's family. He was gonna take his whole family hostage, but was only able to get the kid, so he took him instead. Long story short, Deathstroke rescues the kid, but the kid gets his throat cut, now he's a mute, and Deathstroke's pissed."

"And now he wants to kill you, just like he killed all the other people in your group," said Robin. "Your life is in serious danger, you need to come with us."

Aylesworth chuckled slightly to himself, and Robin raised an eyebrow, wondering what was so funny... especially considering the serious threat that was now being posed against his life.

"You know, when I heard that Slade had found me, I got pretty scared, I'll admit. I was thinking of going with you, but then I realized... the government gave me a new name, a new identity, a new life, and still, it looks like Slade's about to kill me. If the government can't protect me, what makes you kids think _you _can?"

"Uh, _duh_," said Beast Boy. "We have _superpowers_."

"Please, come with us... you will be safe with us, we will not let any harm come to you. All we are asking is-"

"Not interested, not for a second, no way," said Aylesworth, walking past the Titans and making his way toward the office door. "I'll hide _myself_ this time. Before I started working this job, I was an international powerbroker for fifteen years, I'm pretty sure I know some good places to hide."

But Robin didn't want to track down Aylesworth just to protect him... he wanted to use him to lure Slade out of hiding. If he didn't go with the Titans, they would have no way to know where he was, and no way to know where Slade might be. There was no way Robin was letting him go.

"You're not leaving," said Robin, interposing himself between Aylesworth and the door. "You're coming with us whether you like it or not. If you don't, we'll just have to arrest you."

"Arrest me for _what_? Since I went into the Witness Protection Program, I've been an upstanding citizen. I haven't committed a single crime. I haven't even gotten a speeding ticket. The pardon I got gives me immunity from every crime I committed before that, I'm in the free and clear, and you can't lay a finger on me. So get out of my way."

"No," Robin said, looking right into Aylesworth's eyes. "You're not leaving."

Aylesworth eyed Robin curiously for a moment, then, without warning, jabbed two of his fingers hard into Robin's left shoulder. Almost immediately, the Boy Wonder collapsed to his knees, letting out a scream and clutching his left arm, which felt as if it were on fire. Aylesworth casually walked around the fallen Robin, opening the door of his office and stepping out.

"You can't go anywhere... that's assault!" Robin shouted in near-desperation. Aylesworth turned back toward him, laughing to himself once again.

"Yeah, who are the cops gonna believe? Yancey Aylesworth, mild-mannered businessman, takes out the leader of the Teen Titans with one well-placed jab to the shoulder? Face it, you'll never see me again. I told you once and I'll tell you again, _I don't need you_. I can protect myself. Deal with it."

And just like that, Aylesworth was gone. Immediately, Starfire ran to her fallen friend's side, helping him up quickly and nursing his tingling arm in her hands.

"Robin, are you-"

"I'm fine, Starfire, just... didn't see that coming is all..."

"That guy's a _jerk_," said Beast Boy, with all the emphasis on 'jerk'. "We're trying to save his life, and he-"

"Forget about it, Beast Boy," Cyborg replied. "We're dealing with a man who used to play with millions of people's lives without batting an eyelash, he's obviously as bad as Slade."

"No one's as bad as Slade..." Robin instinctively muttered, shaking the last of the tingling out of his arm. "And besides... I slipped a tracking device on him as he walked past me. We should be able to see where he's going on our communicators."

"Nice," Raven said quietly, taking out her communicator and flipping it open. "He's headed down to the parking garage."

"And so are we," said Robin. "Titans, GO!"

O-O-O

A few minutes later, the Titans arrived in the building's massive parking garage, a four-story structure below street level. They tracked Aylesworth's signal on their communicators, and when it stopped on the garage's third level, they ran down as quickly as they could to try and intercept him before he could leave.

"He's about to drive off... get ready to-" Robin's order was immediately cut short when he was engulfed by a large explosion. Starfire let out a stunned scream, then watched in horror as her boyfriend's body emerged from the fireball and slammed hard into a nearby concrete pillar.

"ROBIN!"

"Look out!" shouted Beast Boy, shoving Starfire hard out of the way just as three large red energy blasts flew toward them both. The blasts narrowly missed the two Titans, soaring past them and slamming into several parked cars, destroying them in a fiery explosion. _"We've got company..."_

The blasts had been fired by one of Slade's upgraded Sladebots, its polished, silver frame standing about twenty feet away from the Titans. Three other Sladebots stood next to it, their guns at the ready. As Starfire helped him back to his feet, Robin rubbed the small of his back, not happy to see the hostile robots attacking.

"Titans..."

"We know," said Cyborg, immediately pointing his plasma cannon at the Sladebots and firing. The Sladebots easily dodged Cyborg's blasts, their enhanced speed making them appear as little more than blurs as they ran to the side, then toward the Titans in a zigzag pattern. "Look out, here they come!"

The Sladebots each faced down one of the Titans, but because the Titans outnumbered them by one, Beast Boy was left alone. One of them approached Raven, who took a step back and held out her hands, charging up for a powerful energy blast.

"Azarath, metreon-"

The Sladebot fired his gun at Raven, not an explosive burst, but several strong metallic bands which went around Raven's body, pinning her arms and legs and binding her tightly to the pillar behind her. Another of the bands went around her mouth, muffling her words and rendering her chant useless. As she screamed and struggled, the Sladebot advanced toward her.

"Leave Raven alone!" shouted Beast Boy, transforming into a rhinoceros and charging into the Sladebot at top speed. It was knocked back, but remained on its feet, skidding to a stop a short distance away and firing its gun again, launching a concussive sound wave at Beast Boy that threw his massive body backward into a row of cars. Seeing this, Raven focused her energy. Her eyes lit up, and in a single motion, she snapped free of the bands holding her to the pillar, tearing off the metal across her lips and firing a bolt of black lightning at the Sladebot, hitting it in the chest and causing it to explode violently.

_"As good as Slade's new tech is, it's still as destructible as before..." _thought Raven, flying over to check on Beast Boy.

Nearby, Starfire was exchanging blows with another of the Sladebots, her Starbolts proving ineffective against its tough new armor. As she threw a punch, it grabbed her by the wrist, quickly wrenching her arm behind her back and bending it painfully, putting a large amount of pressure on her shoulder.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" After letting out a scream of pain, Starfire threw her leg back, catching the Sladebot right between the legs. Though the groin area of a Sladebot didn't prove to be nearly as sensitive as a human's would be, the kick was still strong enough to penetrate the Sladebot's armor, creating a large, sparking hole and forcing it to free Starfire's arm. She stepped forward, turned around, and fired a blast from her eye lasers, destroying the Sladebot's head and causing it to collapse to the ground.

"Nice shot, Star..." said Beast Boy, who had detransformed before Raven pulled him from the wreckage of the destroyed cars. "And um... thanks for saving me, Raven."

"Where are Robin and Cyborg?" asked Starfire in a concerned tone, walking over to her friends.

"Right over there," said Raven, pointing over a row of parked cars. There, Robin and Cyborg were standing back to back, preparing to fend off the attack of two approaching Sladebots. Robin was twirling his bo staff, while Cyborg was preparing to launch several miniature missiles once the bots got close.

Finally, the Sladebots lunged. The one going for Robin grabbed his staff with both hands, nearly yanking it away before the caped teenager got the chance to slam the broad side of the staff beneath the robot's chin, disorienting it for a moment. Cyborg's missiles damaged the Sladebot _he _was facing severely, putting several sparking holes in its chest similar to the hole made when Starfire kicked one of the robots earlier. The damage didn't deter the bot from continuing to come at Cyborg, who simply aimed his punches at the weak spots he'd created, destroying the Sladebot in a matter of seconds.

"Well, I got mine!" Cyborg said, pumping his fists. "How about-"

"Still working on it," Robin replied. After he'd knocked the Sladebot away with his staff, it had formed two staves of its own, swinging them viciously at Robin at a rate that proved rather difficult to dodge. "Could use some help, though..."

Help quickly came in the form of a combined Starbolt and energy blast barrage courtesy of Starfire and Raven. The blasts didn't destroy the Sladebot, but it knocked the staves from its hands, enabling Robin to strike a blow with his own staff across the back of the robot's hand, lopping off its neck. The bot's body fell to the floor a second later, incapacitated.

"Awww, I didn't get to smash any of them..." Beast Boy groaned, his arms hanging limp at his sides.

"That's not important!" Robin shouted, putting his staff away. "Where's Aylesworth?"

Any suspicions the Titans may have had about him being captured by Slade or his robots quickly faded once Cyborg pulled up the garage's security feed on his communicator. The feed showed Aylesworth getting into his car and driving out of the garage completely without incident a minute before the Sladebots arrived.

"It appears as if he escaped just in time..." Starfire noted.

"Good for him, but where is he now?" asked Robin, pulling out his own communicator. When he checked for the tracking device he'd placed, nothing showed up on his radar... quickly, he ran to the site of Aylesworth's empty parking space, and what he saw when he got there filled him with dread.

The tracking device was lying on the ground, shattered into pieces. The security feed confirmed that before getting into his car, Aylesworth discovered the device that had been placed on him and destroyed it.

"He's a _slippery _jerk..." Beast Boy said quietly.

"SON OF A BITCH!" shouted Robin, nearly throwing his communicator to the ground in rage before Starfire stopped him. _"Now where the hell is he?"_

O-O-O

Far away from the events taking place in Los Angeles, Maddy Salazar entered her family's apartment. To her great surprise, she saw Terra standing in the kitchen, washing dishes from that afternoon's lunch.

"Oh my gosh... Terra?"

"Your brother's in the living room... how was school?"

"Don't rub it in," Maddy replied, rolling her eyes and setting her backpack down on the table. "Lemme guess, he sat on his butt watching Jerry Springer all day."

"I'm watching it right now!" shouted Sanza, waving from the living room. "If you think you're getting in here to watch cartoons, forget it."

But Maddy wasn't interested in cartoons now that her brother was home, at least a day earlier than she thought he'd be. She ran over to Sanza and gave him a hug, but he wasn't interested... he tried moving his head to look around her, as she was blocking the television.

"Oh yeah, that show is _way _more important than your little sister," Maddy squealed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Really, Sanza, you haven't seen me for two weeks."

"I saw you last night," said Sanza, still trying to look around Maddy. Getting more annoyed by the second, the girl walked over to the television and turned it off, holding down the button with her finger so Sanza couldn't turn it back on with the remote. "...hey!"

"I mean, even if you don't wanna see _me_, you could be... I dunno, making out with your girlfriend or something, right?"

"...I thought you thought that kinda thing was gross," Sanza replied.

"No, it's cute, because you saved her life and it's romantic," said Maddy, smiling wistfully to herself. "Honestly, you got to do something that nobody EVER gets to do, except in like the movies and stuff... you saved the life of a beautiful princess, and now she's in love with you! It's just like a fairy tale, leave it to someone like dumb old Sanza to take it for granted."

Sanza stared at his sister for several moments, wondering if she was trying to annoy him, or if she was actually genuinely captivated by the thought that he was in love with Terra. Then, he wondered how Maddy found out that Terra was actually a princess... she must've told her while Sanza was training with Chu-hui.

"Want me to take her off your hands, Sanza?" asked Terra, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

"...uh, sure," Sanza replied, smiling over at Maddy and Terra.

"Okay then, up you go!" said Terra, wrapping her arms around Maddy and lifting her a few inches off the ground. "Aaaaaagh...!!"

Terra instantly regretted this, realizing that her ribs had yet to fully heal, and though Maddy was fairly light, around ninety pounds, attempting to lift her up was still a rather big mistake. She quickly set Maddy down and clutched her injured ribs, leaning against the wall and letting out another painful moan.

"Terra, are you okay?" asked Maddy, her cheerfulness quickly fading as she knelt down next to the blonde. Sanza ran over just as quickly, kneeling at Terra's side and placing a hand on her rib. "You want me to call 911?"

"No, no, it's not that serious..." said Terra, grimacing and taking a deep breath. She looked up at Sanza and mustered up the biggest smile that she could. "Guess when I really get into having fun, I forget about everything else, huh?"

"Here, you need to lie down... I'll get you some ice, and-"

"I'm _fine_, Sanza, really..." said Terra, taking in another sharp breath and turning to Maddy. "Let's go play in your room, okay? I'll lie down on the bed and you can draw on me with markers or something."

"...you sure?" Maddy asked, blinking her eyes. Terra nodded, using the wall to support herself as she stood up and pulled down the cord hanging down nearby, causing the stairs to fold out from the ceiling.

"Maddy, be careful with Terra..."

"I still think we should call 911 or something..." said Maddy, but Terra wouldn't allow it, and gestured for the girl to follow her up the stairs. "You wanna play with us too, Sanza?"

"...no, no, I have to think about some things... I might be up later, though."

As Maddy followed Terra upstairs, Sanza walked back over to the recliner, leaning back and closing his eyes. After a few seconds, it became clear that he was fighting to keep from sobbing... seeing Terra hurting like that was immensely painful, moreso than any of his physical wounds, moreso than Sanza could imagine. He held back the tears, but he still felt terrible.

_"If I was stronger, Terra never would've been hurt like that... I can't believe Slade did that to her, and I couldn't do anything to stop it... I wasn't even there! I should've stayed with her the whole time!"_

But Sanza wasn't just angry at himself... he was angry at Slade, the man who'd tormented Terra so much before she'd even _met _Sanza, and who continued to torment her now. He could only imagine what Slade had put her through before he'd shown up to fight him off... his nightmares consisted of Slade beating Terra for hours, with Sanza unable to do anything to help her.

_"I swear, I'll make him pay... I'm going to recover... I'm going to put that suit on, and..."_

But how futile an enterprise _that _would be. Sanza knew exactly how it would turn out... he'd attack Slade, the two would fight, and Sanza would lose, just as he always had. Even with the suit, Slade was so much stronger, so much better...

_"Now I know why I wanted to spend the afternoon watching TV... it'll take my mind off all this."_

And with that, Sanza pointed his remote at the television, turning it back on and launching himself back into the world of mindless daytime talk show fare... a much-needed diversion for his weary mind.

O-O-O

That night, the Titans trudged into their hotel room after a few hours of scouring the city for Aylesworth's whereabouts. Robin wanted to keep going, but the rest of the team was exhausted, and after a bit of discussion, he gave in and decided to call it a night. Maybe once everyone else was asleep, he'd go looking himself.

"I call a bed!" Beast Boy excitedly declared, running into the large, well-furnished hotel room and leaping onto the first bed he could find. "Oh yeah, I'm not gonna be sleeping on the floor."

"This suite has six beds," said Raven, "and three bedrooms... I'm not sleeping in this one."

Raven exited the room through the first door on the right, entering a slightly smaller but equally fancy room with two beds and a large television screen on the wall. She sat down on one of the beds and crossed her legs beneath her, using her telekinesis to close the door as she settled into her nightly meditation.

While the Titans hastily staked out their territory in the suite, Robin sat down at a table in the kitchen area and took out his laptop, throwing himself into finding exactly where Aylesworth might have gone. Starfire quickly walked over, peering over Robin's shoulder and looking down at his screen.

"...you will not be sleeping, will you?"

"Starfire, you know we have to find Slade... which means we have to find Aylesworth. As long as he's still in the city, the city's in danger, and I'm not about to let anyone get hurt."

Starfire could feel a pang of sympathy welling up within her heart... she didn't want Robin to have a restless night unless she had one right alongside him. If he wasn't going to sleep, neither was she.

"Please, allow me to help... perhaps we could go out and look for this Aylesworth together?"

Robin quickly turned away from his laptop, looking up toward Starfire with a mixed expression. Part of him didn't want to go out with her at all... even though he'd be right by Starfire's side, without the rest of the team, things could still get out of hand quickly if Slade attacked. After all, the Sladebots who'd attacked earlier in the day had been quite difficult for the team... what if more of them attacked Robin and Starfire? Could the two of them really fend off the upgraded Sladebots alone?

But part of Robin wanted to look for Aylesworth right now... and with Starfire looking along with him, the two could cover a lot more of the city... not to mention how much he loved being around her. Starfire was beautiful, and Robin cared for her deeply... and even now, when he knew he should be focusing on the mission, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

"...first we need to know where to look," said Robin. "Give me just a few minutes, and we'll go out together."

"...yay!" Starfire squealed, barely able to contain her excitement. She quickly restrained herself, slinking down and hiding her face behind her tightly clenched hands. "I will... go prepare."

As Starfire walked off, Robin launched himself back into his search, wondering if he was making a mistake by mixing business with pleasure.

_"No... I'll never let anyone hurt Starfire."_

O-O-O

The bedroom of the ground-floor apartment was mostly bare, containing only a bed and little else. The drab white walls were a definite departure from the beautiful wallpaper Terra was used to... and the lingering ache in her ribs had yet to go away.

_"I definitely shouldn't have tried to pick up Maddy... I hope I didn't undo all the healing Raven did yesterday, I'd hate to have to ask her to heal my rib again..."_

Terra exited the bedroom, stepping out into the dark hallway and walking into the bathroom nearby. She turned the light on and opened the door, blushing a bit as she saw her reflection in the mirror... she was wearing one of Maria's white bras, and a pair of her panties as well... though she'd been assured that they were clean, she was again kicking herself for not packing any of her clothes before she came over to the apartment.

"Admiring ourselves, are we?"

Terra let out a gasp, turning to the doorway of the bathroom, where she could see Maria standing with a small box in her hands. Her blush grew even more, and she put her hands to her mouth, extremely embarrassed to have Sanza's mother seeing her this way.

"I... I didn't see you come in...!"

"I should've called before coming over, I'm sorry... by the way, I hope my underwear fits you all right, I wasn't about to give you any of Maddy's, she'd be even more embarrassed than you are to wear mine."

"No, no, they're all right... actually, they're kinda stylish. Don't take this personally, but I thought you wore like, granny panties or something..."

"I'm not a granny," said Maria, chuckling to herself as she entered the bathroom and handed the box to Terra. "_Yet_, anyway."

"What are these?" Terra asked, reading the label on the front of the box. "Medicated pain relief patches..."

"You put them on your back and they emit a soothing medicine that's supposed to relieve pain. Maddy told me about how you hurt yourself today trying to pick her up, I picked these up on the way home from another meeting... you can put one of them on under your bandages after I leave."

"Thanks," said Terra, setting the box of patches down on top of the sink and looking at herself in the mirror. She brushed her hair back from her face, her eyes focusing on the reflection of her forehead... the wound that Slade had inflicted there was long gone, healed in an instant by Raven's powers... but still, she couldn't help but be reminded of that terrible night again... and the guilt began to return.

"...he's getting better, Terra," said Maria, gently placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Terra looked up and turned around, leaning against the sink and letting out a quiet sigh. "You can go talk to him if you want..."

"We talked for an hour before he went to bed... he still blames himself for everything that happened... I don't tell him this, but I blame myself just as much..."

"I blame Slade, and you should too," said Maria, "but I know what guilt can do... when Slade captured Maddy and I, I spent weeks blaming myself for what happened to her, I'm supposed to be able to protect my children, but... then God spoke to me and told me that it wasn't my fault, and the burden was just... lifted from me."

Terra could understand what Maria was trying to tell her, but she wasn't so sure that she was ready to quit blaming herself, even if deep down, she knew that it wasn't her fault. She knew God probably wanted her to stop feeling so guilty too...

_"But then again... where was God when Sanza and I were about to be tortured?"_

"I see that look, I know what it means," said Maria. "It's all right to feel that way..."

"Feel _what _way?"

"To feel like God's not there... everyone's felt it before, I've felt it and I know Sanza's felt it... but even if you feel that way, he's still there, watching over you. You know what else I think?"

Terra leaned back a bit more, accidentally knocking the box of patches into the sink behind her. She ignored it, keeping her eyes focused on Maria and listening for the next words to come out of her mouth.

"I think that God brought you two together for a reason... I think you and Sanza are each other's guardian angels. Call me crazy, but-"

"...you're not crazy," said Terra, her lips slowing forming a smile. "You're absolutely right... actually, sometimes I feel that way too..."

"You love him."

"With all of my heart," said Terra, wiping a tear away from her eye. "He never judged me, not even once... all the horrible things I did, and... and he forgave me in an instant... he saved me... I used to think Slade was the one who saved me, that's why I became his apprentice, but... Sanza saved me from all my guilt, and all my doubt, and-"

"You saved him too, Terra. You saved him from destroying his life with this... this Red X situation... he wouldn't have stopped stealing until he realized he'd have to hurt you... and he wouldn't have stopped blaming himself for what happened to Cleo until he realized you loved him unconditionally."

Maria couldn't express her next sentiments with words... words didn't exist to express how grateful Maria was to Terra for saving her son, for being there for him and for being his guardian angel... but Terra could clearly see exactly what Maria was trying to tell her.

_"And thank you too... for bringing Sanza into the world... and for being so kind to me..."_

Terra wrapped her arms tightly around Maria, who returned the hug just as quickly. The two parted a few moments later, and Maria started to leave... but before she did, she turned back, giving Terra one last bit of information.

"That whole... talk about me being a granny, don't think I was implying that I want grandchildren right now. I don't want them for at least ten years, so don't go getting any ideas about-"

"Mrs. Salazar...!!" Terra blushed deeply, not wanting to let Maria know about how close she and Sanza had come to consummating their relationship at Chu-hui's shrine. "You don't think we...!"

"Teenagers and their hormones, don't get me started... I was your age once, you know."

Maria started to leave again, but she turned back to Terra one last time.

"Good night, Terra... if you need anything else, you know where I'll be."

"Good night, Mrs. Salazar... _and thank you..._"

O-O-O

As the sweet sound of a saxophone billowed through a dimly-lit nightclub on the east side of Los Angeles, Yancey Aylesworth sat at the bar and ordered up another Manhattan. He'd downed two already, and was clearly ready for at least five more... wanting to get as drunk as he could get so he wouldn't have to think about Slade.

"So I said... I said to Robin, I said... I'm not going with you _anywhere_..." Aylesworth slurred to the bartender, already showing the initial signs of drunkenness. "Y'know, those Teen Titans... they're all a buncha losers, who'd they ever save? Not me, I'll tell ya that _right _now."

"I don't know if I should give you another drink, you're plenty drunk as it is..." said the bartender, polishing off a tall glass before preparing Aylesworth's third Manhattan.

"Y...you'll gimme another drink, my friend Ben Franklin _said _so," Aylesworth said, plunking down a crisp new $100 bill down on the table. The bartender quickly scooped it up, giving Aylesworth his drink and immediately preparing him a fourth. "Yeeeeah... you're my new best friend."

The phone in Aylesworth's pocket began to ring, but it took four rings before he finally noticed that it was going off. He downed the third Manhattan quickly before taking the phone out of his pocket and opening it up.

"Hello...?"

The voice on the other end was one that Aylesworth never wanted to hear again... but in his slightly drunken state, even Slade couldn't make him lose his cool.

"I assume this is Yancey Aylesworth I'm speaking to," said Slade, his voice calmly coming out of the earpiece of Aylesworth's cellphone. "Or perhaps I should just call you by your real name... Nathan Atana."

Aylesworth was slightly stunned to hear Slade's voice, but he kept the phone to his ear, gaining confidence from the three Manhattans flowing through his bloodstream.

"Yeah, and you're the guy who's tryin' ta kill me, huh? Deathstroke the Terminator... or perhaps I should call you by _your _real name... Slade Wilson."

"I couldn't find you at your office," Slade replied coldly, "but I did find someone else at their house... maybe you could tell me if this name rings a bell: Clarissa Connors."

Aylesworth recognized his secretary's name immediately, but he didn't seem alarmed... he had no way of knowing that at that very moment, Slade was standing in Clarissa's apartment, in her bedroom, next to the young secretary herself. The woman was kneeling on the floor, bound and gagged tightly with duct tape, her terrified boyfriend trembling in the corner of the room in a similar state. Both were in their underwear, as Slade had interrupted them just before, or perhaps just after, what was presumably a very exciting night.

Now, it seemed, the night had become a lot _more _exciting. Slade held his cell phone in one hand and a pistol in the other, pointing it right at the side of Clarissa's head.

"...what have you done with Clarissa, asshole?"

"She's right here beside me, with a .38 revolver pressed squarely to the side of her temple. I'd let you speak with her, but she's a bit... pardon the pun, tied up at the moment. Such puns are usually beneath me, but I can tell from your voice that you're a bit beneath yourself right now, so I figured I'd drag myself down to your level."

"Hunh. Really."

"And if you don't want Clarissa's brains splattered on the floor, you'd better drag yourself over here within the next ten minutes, or-"

Upon hearing Slade's threat, Aylesworth immediately broke out into laughter. He was convulsing violently, laughing so hard that he nearly dropped his cell phone. He got up from the bar and walked into the nearest bathroom, barricading himself inside one of the stalls so that no one could hear the rest of the conversation.

"Are you... are you kidding me? If you think I'm gonna put my ass on the line for my _secretary_, you're out of your mind. Maybe if I was fucking her on the side or something, but she's already got a boyfriend, she doesn't stop talking about him, in fact, I'm probably mostly paying her to talk with him on the phone anyway. She just spends all day just yammering on, chewing on all that gum, so unprofessional... so, go ahead. Shoot her, blow her brains out, I don't give a fuck. At least I don't have to pay her anymore."

Slade chuckled to himself, then continued talking.

"You're right, how silly of me. You truly are a bastard."

"And proud of it," came Aylesworth's reply, still laughing slightly to himself. "Could you... could you put her on speaker so I can hear her scream as you kill her? That'd be great."

"..._only someone that heartless would authorize something so terrible as the mutilation of my son," _thought Slade, hanging up the phone and turning to Clarissa. "As I suspected, your boss cares little about the lives of you or your boyfriend. I'm a man of my word, you're going to die."

Clarissa began sobbing, screaming several times into her gag and closing her eyes as Slade put the gun against the side of her temple. She bowed her head, her life flashing before her as she counted the last seconds toward the end...

But instead of hearing a gunshot, she heard the loud clash of metal on metal as the gun was knocked from Slade's hands by a well-aimed Bird-a-rang. Clarissa turned her head to see Robin and Starfire rushing into the room, both of them charging right at Slade.

"LET HER GO!" shouted Robin, extending his bo staff. Immediately, Slade pulled out a smoke bomb and tossed it to the floor. Clarissa, her boyfriend, and the two Titans began coughing violently as smoke filled the room, and by the time it faded, Slade was gone. "...after him!"

Robin ran past Clarissa and tried to chase Slade down, but Starfire grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back and forcing him to look at the terrified and sobbing Clarissa.

"We must free the hostages first!"

"But... but..."

Robin _knew _Starfire was right. Had he arrived just a second later, Clarissa would be dead, and her boyfriend not far behind. The two of them were both sobbing now, and Robin could see in their eyes the same fear that must have filled Sanza and Terra's eyes when the two of them were at Slade's mercy. He picked up the thrown Bird-a-rang and used it to free Clarissa and her boyfriend from their bonds, and as the two exchanged a tearful embrace in the middle of the room, Robin turned to Starfire, his voice having softened a bit from earlier.

"You're right, Star, I just... it's _Slade_, and we almost had him, and-"

"We will get him soon, Robin... I know that we will... but for now, be happy that we saved the lives of two people..."

"I am happy..." said Robin, managing to give Starfire a weak smile. "I'm glad I agreed to go out with you tonight..."

"I am glad too, Robin..." said Starfire, taking Robin's hand as the two exited the apartment together. She looked over her shoulder at Clarissa and her boyfriend, who were still comforting each other in the middle of the room. "Do either of you require assistance of any kind? We will gladly take you to a hospital if-"

"We'll be... just fine... but thank you both so much..." sniffled a tearful Clarissa, smiling up at Robin and Starfire. _"That horrible monster... if he was willing to go after me just to get to my boss, who knows what else he's capable of...?"_

O-O-O

Sanza couldn't sleep... it was past midnight, but he couldn't stop thinking about Slade... finally, he gave in. He pulled the Red X suit out from under his bed, then laid it out and stared at it for several minutes, thinking of all the power it still held... and if all the training he got from Chu-hui would really make a difference.

_"Of course I couldn't beat Slade without the suit... but even _with _the suit, I was no match for him before..."_

He picked up the mask and ran his hands over its surface, then stretched its fabric back and forth a few times, then placed it back down on the bed. He looked down at the tiny Xynothium reactor, still pumping the powerful chemical freely through the suit, charging its many useful weapons...

_"I can't do this... I can't protect Terra... I'm worthless..."_

All of those thoughts were filling Sanza's mind, holding him back, making him ache every time he reached for the suit... could he ever put it on again? Could he ever be Red X? Could he ever fight Slade?

He'd had these moments before, had them after failing to take out Slade on Mt. Cappalani, after failing to prevent Cleo's rape... and now this... after nearly watching Terra get killed right before his eyes... but there was one difference. On Mt. Cappalani, and in the factory with Cleo, he had been wearing the Red X suit... and he still failed. But when he fought with Slade to save Terra, he wasn't Red X... he was Sanza. And though he'd given it all, given everything he had, perhaps many times over...

_"I couldn't save her."_

But with the suit, maybe it was still possible... maybe Sanza had improved enough to take on Slade... but only if he was Red X.

And there was only one way to find out.

"First thing tomorrow morning," said Sanza, packing the suit back into the box and sliding it under his bed. "First thing tomorrow, I'm going back to the Tower... I'm going to start my training again..."

He had the perfect sparring partner in Terra, whose strong powers were more than enough to be a match for him... they'd take it easy on each other, of course, but Sanza just needed to see how much he could push himself now with the suit on. He climbed back into his bed and closed his eyes, trying to get as much sleep as he could... because tomorrow, he had a busy day ahead of him.


	24. Dreams And Nightmares

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

"Now, I just enter the code, and... we're in!"

The front door of Titans Tower slid open, and Terra and Sanza stepped inside. For the first time in nearly three weeks, Sanza had put on the costume of the mysterious thief Red X. He was finally ready to be X again, even if it was only part of a training exercise. Still, he could feel himself trembling as he stepped inside the main room of the Tower... its dark rooms and hallways lighting up as the couple entered.

"I guess we're going right to the training room, huh?" asked Red X.

"Well, yeah... that's what we came here to do. But if you're not ready yet, then-"

"I'm ready, I was just thinking you might want to eat something first."

"I just had breakfast a half-hour ago... you?"

"We ate breakfast together, so... yeah."

Terra could detect the nervousness in X's voice as the two made their way through the back hallways of the tower. She was a bit nervous too, she wasn't so sure if she was ready to fight again so soon after her ordeal with Slade... and she definitely wasn't sure if she wanted to be fighting Sanza. What if something went wrong, what if she messed up and hurt him?

"_You're not going to hurt him, your powers are under control now... just take it easy and remember that it's just training... challenge him, but don't hurt him... we'll both be fine."_

After a bit of walking, X and Terra reached the locked door that led to the outdoor training area. Terra typed in the code, and the door slid open. The first thing the two saw once they stepped outside was the control console, and behind it lay a wide-open, rocky battlefield ready to change according to the commands typed in.

"All right, what should we set up first? Should we just start sparring each other now, or-"

"Maybe before fighting each other, we should just try some basic battle simulations," X said, walking over to the console and manipulating the controls. "Like... I dunno, we could beat up some Sladebots or something."

"That sounds fine..." said Terra quietly, following X over to the console. "You know how to run this thing?"

The thief pressed a button, and a second later, five simulated Sladebots appeared, their eyes focused on the duo at the console. Terra raised an eyebrow, while X crouched down into a battle stance, ignoring some of the pain in his stiff joints as the Sladebots began walking toward him.

"All right, you get behind them, and I'll-" Before Terra could get out a sentence, one of the Sladebots raised its gun, and X simultaneously raised his arm. He fired a projectile from his palm that stopped just short of the group of Sladebots, disappearing an expanding into a transparent red energy dome. Electricity crackled through the dome, and the Sladebots fell to pieces, the pieces then disappearing as soon as they had been generated. "I'll, uh... just watch you take them out from here."

X looked down at his hands, which were still sparking slightly with energy. He blinked his eyes under his mask, then looked up at where the Sladebots were.

"...that seemed _too _easy," said X, walking out onto the battlefield as the glow around his hands finally died down. "You sure it's on the right setting?"

Terra looked down at the console, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. The programming was accurate, the Sladebots that Red X had just taken out were set to be just as difficult to defeat as real Sladebots... before Slade's upgrades, of course.

"I'll try to spawn ten of them this time," said Terra, adjusting one of the knobs on the console. "Just make sure you're ready, okay?"

X nodded, and Terra pressed a small blue button, generating ten Sladebot simulants. The simulants surrounded Red X, forming a wide circle around him, their guns already drawn.

"Sanza, are you sure you can beat them?"

The Sladebots fired, but X held steady, raising his arms and firing several explosive projectiles at the energy beams that rushed at him from the Sladebots' phasers. The projectiles negated the energy blasts, leaving X open to fire several more projectiles, this time at the Sladebots themselves. The projectiles detonated, leaving a ring of smoke and flame that surrounded the thief, concealing him from view and filling Terra with a bit of worry. When the smoke cleared a few moments later, she could see Red X alive and well, surrounded by the smoldering remains of the ten Sladebot simulants. The remains disappeared into the wind, and Terra quickly rushed over to congratulate her victorious boyfriend.

"That was amazing, I can't believe you took them out so quickly...!"

"Neither can I..." X replied, looking down at his hands again. "It's like... I can feel the suit reacting to my body, it's never done that before..."

The suit continued to glow for several more seconds before returning to normal... but still, Sanza could feel that something had changed. He felt stronger... much stronger than he'd ever been... could his training under Chu-hui really have increased his power by this much?

"I don't get it, though... Robin's _much _better at martial arts than me, and as far as I know, he's never been able to do stuff like this with the suit..."

"Yeah, but neither of us have ever seen him in the suit... maybe he _was _this good." Terra was as puzzled as Sanza was, but even though his power seemed to have increased, there was only one way to make sure. "Okay, enough of this Sladebot stuff. You need a _real _opponent."

X looked up at Terra, who flashed him a smile and took several steps back. The thief immediately chuckled, but then began to feel a pang of worry... he was just as afraid of hurting Terra as she was of hurting him.

"Don't hold back," said Terra, stepping over to the control console and tweaking several knobs. The ground beneath X's feet began to shake, and suddenly, the rock floor around him started to rise, forming high, canyon walls that seemed to snake and bend every which way.

Red X was now standing in the middle of a large, earthen maze... and Terra was nowhere in sight. But he could hear her.

"Because you're in _my _house now!"

X looked up to see Terra flying just overhead, balanced on a rocky platform barely eight inches wide. He turned and tried to blast her, but before he could, she'd already rounded a bend and had disappeared from view again.

"_Okay, if that's the way you want to do it... then let's play."_

O-O-O

The Titans had returned to Aylesworth's office at the behest of Robin, who didn't want to leave a single stone unturned in the search for the missing businessman. The office was empty, as Clarissa was understandably opting to spend the day at home with her boyfriend, and Aylesworth hadn't shown up for work. Little would interfere with the Titans' quest to dig up answers.

"His file cabinets ain't turning up anything... then again, his file cabinets ain't very big, either," said Cyborg, who had pulled out the cabinet's three shelves and had hastily thumbed through the files contained within.

"Raven, have you been able to pull anything off Aylesworth's computer?" asked Robin, peering over his blue-cloaked teammate's shoulder.

"He left in a hurry, so he didn't have time to wipe the hard drive... but he seems to have deleted some of the files remotely," Raven noted, her eyes scanning the screen. "If I run a backtrace, I think I can find out where he deleted the files from."

"Do it, but it'll probably end up being a public computer... a library or something," said Robin, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Oh... if it is, I can call all the libraries in the city and ask if they have seen a man matching the description of Aylesworth!" said Starfire, cheerfully offering her help.

"Starfire, there are probably fifty or more different branches of the Los Angeles library system... even if one of them has seen him, he'll be long gone by the time we know..." Robin could see that Starfire wasn't happy about her suggestion being refuted, but he wasn't in the business of making people feel better... not when an entire city was being threatened. "It was a good suggestion, Starfire, but I'm just stating the facts."

"The fact is, he's probably already left the city!" Beast Boy said as he leaned against the wall near the door. "I mean, that's what I would do if Slade was coming after me... just saying."

Robin did have to entertain the possibility that perhaps Aylesworth _was _long gone... that he'd want to get as far away as possible from the places that Slade thought he might be. But even if he _had _left the city, it was likely that Slade had remained... and the search for Aylesworth was itself a search for Slade, if Slade could be found, there was no need to go looking for anyone else. So for now, Robin had to assume Slade was still in the city.

"We're staying here until we know that either Aylesworth or Slade have left the city," said Robin, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Found it," Raven suddenly said, having located the computer from which Aylesworth had remotely deleted files from his office's hard drive. "...this is strange, it says here that he deleted the files from... his house."

"Why would he still be at his house?" asked Cyborg, walking over and taking a look at the computer screen.

"Good question," Robin added. _"That's the FIRST place Slade would go looking for him! But... the first place Slade would go looking is likely the last place Aylesworth would be... and that would make it the _last _place Slade would go looking, so..."_

The more Robin thought about it, the more plausible it sounded. Aylesworth had pulled a double-reversal on his pursuer, and perhaps Slade didn't even suspect a thing.

"We're leaving," said Robin, "and heading up to Aylesworth's house."

"...are you _sure _he's gonna be there?" asked Cyborg.

"He was there five hours ago," said Raven, noting the time at which some of Aylesworth's files were remotely deleted. "Obviously that's no guarantee he's there now, but it's the best lead we've got."

And with that, the Titans headed up to the roof... from there, they would fly out to the city's suburbs, and hopefully, would find Yancey Aylesworth before it was too late.

O-O-O

Red X ran through the narrow corridors of the stone canyon as quickly as he could... it was about the only thing he could do, as he lacked the gift of flight that Terra's powers gave her. He spent most of his time looking for Terra in the air, thinking she'd still be floating just overhead.

"_I'm way out of my element here... even _with _my training, I don't think I stand much of a chance..." _

He ran past a small cave, not noticing it as he continued down the rocky trail... and he also didn't notice Terra coming up behind him, her hands alight with a bright, yellow glow. Suddenly, a rock hit him hard in the small of his back, knocking him forward and throwing off his concentration. He turned around, only to see a large, earthen fist heading straight for his body. He thrust out his hands and tried to block it with an X, but the fist engulfed him before he could, hardening as it passed through him, and becoming rock-solid as he began to come out the other side.

The fist solidified into an earthen wall that kept X's body trapped in place, leaving only his head and hands exposed as Terra slowly walked up to him.

"Looks like I got you right from the start," said Terra, smirking to herself as she reached up to touch X's face. "I told you not to hold back."

"...who said I was?" X clenched his hands tightly into fists, which were soon engulfed by twin explosions, blasting apart the rock that was keeping him trapped and showering Terra with stones and dust. She began coughing as the cloud of debris engulfed her, giving the thief more than enough time to hit her in the midsection with a large, metallic X that flew out on a narrow band of rubber, similar to a spring. The X hit Terra with enough force to send her flying back into the nearest canyon wall, before springing back and disappearing into Red X's hand. "That was a pretty good trick before, though. Coming up behind me... very sneaky, very devious, very-"

Terra was not deterred by her meeting with the wall, sending out several small stones that pelted Red X on various areas of his body, including his still-healing chest. He stumbled back and let out a cry of pain, clutching the afflicted area and falling to one knee.

"Are you okay...?" Terra was immediately filled with dread when she realized what she'd done, her eyes wide as she ran to her fallen friend and knelt down beside him. "I forgot about... well, I mean, I knew, but-"

"These things happen during training," X stammered, coughing several times and rising to his feet. "Don't worry about it, we can cuddle after this is over, okay? _...ugh, how cheesy did THAT sound? C'mon, Sanza, stay in the game... you're trying not to hurt Terra, but you're also trying to win here._"

Terra nodded, backing off from X and extending two pillars of rock out from the sides of the canyon walls. The pillars slammed into X as soon as he tried to stand, knocking him back in one direction, and then in the other, forming a thick rock wall between the two fighters.

"You getting scared of me or something?" X taunted, launching a glowing red orb into the partition between the pillars. The orb expanded to form an electrical field that filled the entire gap, making the pillars grow a bright red color before shattering them to pieces, bombarding both combatants with chunks of rock. When X peered through the smoke and dust left by the explosion, Terra had once again disappeared, having retreated to the air once again. "I guess you are... and that just means I'll have to come after you myself!"

Once again, Red X began running through the canyon, looking around in all directions so that Terra wouldn't be able to get the jump on him a second time. Finally, he could see her, hovering in the air on another stone platform, its underside poised to smash down on top of him. He pointed his hand up at the platform as it flew rapidly toward him, but then he decided just to leap back and let Terra smash up against the ground. She continued downward, jumping off her platform at the last moment and landing right in front of X, who raised his arm to fire an adhesive projectile at her face. She grabbed him by the wrist, raising up his arm and causing him to just barely miss, then twisted his arm hard behind his back, only to have him quickly evade the hold and get Terra in a hold of his own.

"You're not actually trying to fight hand to hand with me, are you?" X spoke right into Terra's ear, holding her arms behind her back with one hand while holding her close to him with the other, holding her tight while taking care not to cause any further injury to her ribs. "Are you?"

"No..." Terra replied, a devilish smirk on her face. "Just wanted to get real close to you so I could do _this_."

Terra raised a section of rock rapidly up from the ground beneath X's feet, knocking him off balance and causing him to land on the ground a short distance away. The blonde quickly turned toward him, lifting up some more ground from below the fallen thief and burying him completely in a small pile of rocks and dirt.

"I think you started enjoying this fight a little bit _too_ much," said Terra, blowing X a kiss as she ran off down the winding path, giving herself a good head start before her opponent was able to dig his way out. "See you when you catch up!"

O-O-O

Aylesworth's house was located in a well-to-do neighborhood in the suburbs just north of downtown Los Angeles. The neighborhood wasn't gated, but even if it had been, the Titans would've gotten in anyway. They flew over several rows of houses, Raven carrying Cyborg, Starfire carrying Robin, and Beast Boy flying alone as a green pterodactyl, drawing the attention and amazement of some of the children who were playing outside.

"The house should be right there," said Robin, pointing at a white building just below Starfire and himself. "Let's set down on the driveway."

The house was fairly large, though it covered only a single floor, and had a well-kept lawn in front of it, lining the narrow driveway on both sides. The driveway led up to a garage, and was devoid of any cars... and a quick check by Raven showed that the garage itself was empty as well.

"He's not here, and if he is here, his car is gone," said Raven, following Robin and the other Titans right up to the front door. "I assume we're not going to knock."

"Don't need to," said Robin, turning the doorknob and pushing the front door open with ease. "It's unlocked."

The Titans made their way into the house, and upon arrival, listened for any sign of activity within... all that greeted them was silence, the first sign that the home was empty. They checked the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms and bathrooms, but could find no sign of Aylesworth or anyone else within. The books were straightened, there was no sign of a struggle anywhere... any suspicions that the man may have been taken against his will, or even taken at all, were rapidly fading.

"We're too late," said Cyborg quietly.

"Not sure," Robin said, still hoping that Aylesworth might still be in his house... after all, there was still one room left to check. "The office is just down the hall..."

Aylesworth's home office was a bit different from the rest of the house... instead of plush white carpeting, the floor was crafted of solid brown wood, and the walls were lined in brick instead of plaster. A flat-panel television rested against the wall on the left side of the entrance, facing a beautiful, polished mahogany desk at the back of the room, on which sat a computer and several innocuous documents. Robin thumbed through the documents for a moment, while Raven quickly logged onto the computer and ran a quick search for anything suspicious.

"This dude has books on everything," commented Beast Boy, standing behind the desk and admiring the books stacked on a large shelf built into the back wall.

"Didn't know you were into books," replied Raven sarcastically, with the obvious implication being that Beast Boy was too dumb to know how to read.

"I'm not into books, I'm just checking to see if this guy has any weird secret passages that might be activated by removing one of these... HEY! I know what you were getting at!"

"Took you long enough to figure it out," said Raven.

"Guy has a nice TV," Cyborg commented, running his hands over the smooth screen. "Must be at least fifty-inches wide... not as nice as our TV, but still-"

Suddenly, the screen flashed on, startling Cyborg enough to cause him to draw his weapon... but he quickly lowered it when he saw Aylesworth's face, and heard him begin to speak.

"I figured the five of you would show up... assuming this _is _the Teen Titans who are rifling through my private office right now."

"Guys, I think he was expecting us..." said Robin, who had turned to face the screen along with the rest of his team, wanting to hear exactly what Aylesworth had to say.

"You think?" Raven replied, scooting the chair she was sitting in away from the computer in order to get a better view of the screen.

"Rest assured, I've gotten far away from my house by now... in fact, I may not even be in the city anymore, though I'm not about to tell you or anyone else where I've gone. But I do know you're probably still looking for Slade, and if you know where he is, you'll stop looking for me. So I did a bit of detective work on my own, and it seems that a lot of unusual shipments have been making their way into the city... shipments that aren't showing up on any of the cargo manifests of major companies importing material into Los Angeles today. So many suspicious shipments, all going to one location..."

Aylesworth's face disappeared, replaced by a map of the Los Angeles area. The map slowly zoomed in, and a blinking red dot appeared, highlighting a location on the southern edge of downtown.

"Slade's shipping his goods here, to this warehouse complex at the corner of 79th and Wilshire. I don't know exactly what he's planning, but I have a pretty good idea that it's not good for this city, or the people living in it. So you might want to get down there as soon as possible. Just a little heads-up."

The screen flashed off, leaving the Titans wondering exactly what to do next.

"How did Aylesworth know exactly where Slade's shipments are going?" asked Robin, a puzzled expression on his face. "I already ran a search for unusual shipments, and I couldn't come up with _anything_."

"Could be a trap," Cyborg stated. "Maybe this guy's just trying to lure us somewhere where he can take us out all at once."

"That's a possibility, but it's still a chance we have to take," said Robin. "This is best lead we've gotten on Slade since we came here, if we can stop him now, then the danger is over and we can go back home!"

"I agree with Robin, we must stop Slade as soon as possible! Let us investigate this new lead right away!" Starfire said enthusiastically.

Robin and his teammates could only hope that they weren't being led on a wild goose chase... or worse, being led right into a trap.

O-O-O

X and Terra had found each other once again, and now they were launching projectiles back and forth at one another, sending large chunks of the canyon walls falling to the ground below.

"That one was almost _too _close," X said to himself, just barely able to leap out of the way of a large boulder that Terra had thrown down at him. He retaliated by shooting three large, exploding Xs up at her. The first two missed, but the third caught her in the leg, causing her to be flung off of her platform and nearly fall to the ground below. She reached out desperately, her right hand clinging to the side of the platform... but it was rapidly slipping, and X was preparing to fire at her again.

"_He's gotten so much faster..." _thought Terra, still struggling to pull herself back up as another X came flying toward her. _"Dammit!"_

Seeing that she no longer had time to regain her footing, Terra released her grip on the side of the platform, letting herself fall to the ground below. She lifted a small rock into each of her hands, using those to fly quickly in the opposite direction... and right into a large, sticky X suspended between the walls of the canyon. The X encircled her body on contact, wrapping her up tightly in a cocoon-like state with only her head sticking out of the top. She hit the ground hard, though the soft, sticky material around her body cushioned her fall somewhat, and she continued to struggle as the thief made his way toward her.

"I should've expected that..." Terra muttered, rolling back and forth as she tried to use the rocky canyon floor to tear away at the cocoon holding her body. She concentrated on the ground as hard as she could, finally managing to lift up a small, sharp section of rock beneath her. With a little bit of movement, she easily cut a large slit in the back of the cocoon. _"Too easy."_

"You give up yet, or-"

With a loud scream, Terra ripped herself free, her entire lower body glowing as she rose to her feet. Stunned by Terra's sudden show of strength, X tried to get away, but was quickly bombarded by rocks, which battered his body in several places, bruising his arms, legs, and chest as they hit. A tall spike of rock then jutted up from the ground, throwing him violently back and causing him to fall onto the ground, which immediately began to quake. He looked up to see a huge chunk of rock falling down toward him, and quickly raised his arms, forming a wide, red barrier between himself and the rock. It smashed against the barrier, cracking it but not quite able to cause it to give way, breaking into small pieces that harmlessly fell around the thief when he waved the barrier off.

"You should already know the answer to that," said Terra, her glowing hands indicating that she was about to launch another attack.

"Let's finish this," X replied, standing up and charging at Terra. He extended his wrist blades as she began hurling more rocks at him, and was easily able to intercept everything Terra threw, slicing the small rocks in half as they came his way. She backed up, forming several rock walls to block X's path, but he simply blew them up and continued running forward, shooting several binding cables out at Terra the closer he got to her. She dodged the first, but the second was able to wrap around her left wrist... the glowing red cable connected to the center of X's right palm. He tugged hard, trying to throw Terra off balance, but she simply cut the cable with a sharp rock, causing X's momentum to bring him a bit more forward than he would've liked. "W...whoa!!"

Terra ran up to X and kicked high, her foot catching him forcefully beneath his chin. The blow staggered the thief, nearly knocking him onto his back. Terra immediately formed two small fist-shaped rocks out of shattered stone fragments on the ground, launching both projectiles into X's shoulders, which disoriented him even more... but still, he stayed on his feet. She brought the fist-shaped rocks back and flung them out again, this time aiming at her opponent's weakened chest. Using the blades that still extended from his wrists, X swung downward twice, slashing the fists in half, their remnants falling and shattering on the ground below.

"Did you do that because you knew I'd stop it?"

"I did it because you told me not to hold back," Terra replied, forming a much larger fist of stone and aiming it right at the center of X's chest. "Don't you hold back on me too!"

X did not reply to this last statement. Instead, he threw his left arm forward, sending out a surge of electrical energy that instantly shattered the rock to pieces. The shockwave continued forward, slamming into Terra and severely disorienting her. She let out a scream, trying to charge forward into the continuing shockwave even as it blew past her with the energy of hurricane-force winds, bouncing off the walls of the canyon and dislodging large chunks of rock that rained to the ground behind Terra's back. X then threw his other hand out, and instantly, Terra found her arms pinned to her sides by red metallic bands that circled her body, pinning her crossed arms to the small of her back.

"I wasn't holding back either," said X, smiling and removing his mask. Terra was on one knee now, her head bowed, breathing heavily and grimacing in pain. For the briefest of moments, Sanza hesitated, and this gave Terra an opening. She got up and leapt back, kicking out her right leg and sending out a huge wave of dirt and rock that slammed hard into Sanza, tossing him backward and causing his body to bounce off the ground several times. _"Damn, this is getting serious now...!"_

As Sanza began skidding to a stop, he could see Terra running rapidly toward him, completely unimpeded by no longer having the use of her arms. He pointed his hand at her leg and fired another binding X, hoping that it would stop her charge and give him a few seconds to rest as he came to a stop, lying flat on his back and moaning as he stared up at the sun. The X caught Terra in mid-stride, binding her legs together at the ankles... but instead of tripping, she came to an instant stop, levitating herself up on a small platform of rock and continuing toward her opponent at top speed.

"_I shouldn't have taken my mask off..." _thought Sanza, quickly pulling himself up from the ground. He could feel a slight pain in nearly every part of his body, and fatigue had already begun setting in... but Terra wasn't losing a step, her eyes aglow as she generated a powerful earthquake that sent dozens of rocks plummeting downward from the canyon walls. "Not this again...!"

Sanza rolled forward, once again extending his X-blades and running toward Terra, whose platform was now just a few seconds away from reaching him. He crouched down and locked eyes with Terra, whose long hair flowed out from behind her as she closed the remaining distance between Sanza and herself.

"I don't need my limbs to beat you, Sanza!"

Sanza leapt to the side as Terra attempted to headbutt him, watching as she turned her small platform around and immediately came right back. This time, he stood his ground, swinging his blade for Terra's chest. She dodged to the side, dislodging a stone from the wall behind Sanza and hitting him in the left thigh. He grimaced, clutching the bruised area with one hand while using his other to take another swipe at Terra, this time aiming for her cheek. The blade barely missed, and Terra swung herself once around Sanza before floating her rock a few yards back and sliding it out from beneath her feet.

"_What's she doing...?! Without that platform beneath her body, all she can do is hop toward me... I'm going in for the kill now."_

Sanza rushed forward at Terra, who was hastily reshaping the platform into a small stone sword. At the instant that Sanza began swinging his blade at the side of Terra's neck, she completed her sword and rapidly spun it around.

The two blades stopped at the same instant, poised less than an inch from the other's neck. Both Sanza and Terra's eyes widened at the realization of what had just happened. Then, they both smiled... and then, they began to laugh.

The fight was a draw.

"Geez, you really _did _go all out, didn't you...?" laughed Sanza, retracting his blades at the same time that Terra let her stone sword drop to the ground. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I...?"

Obviously, neither Sanza nor Terra had intended to seriously hurt the other, both of them pulling their punches just enough to have a good fight, while at the same time, making sure that neither combatant came into any serious harm. They weren't quite fighting at their best, but during some parts of the fight, they'd come pretty close... but this was clearly the best Sanza had ever done in training against Terra. He'd met her blow for blow, had the upper hand for a good portion of the fight, and had landed a 'killing' strike at the exact moment that Terra did... a sign that Sanza had improved, though by exactly how much, he still couldn't say.

"I could say the same for you... you're still favoring that leg where I hit you earlier," said Terra. "Are you-"

"I'm fine..."

The two looked away from one another for a brief moment, then locked eyes once again. Looking down, Sanza noticed that Terra's arms and legs were still wrapped tightly in metallic X-bands... either she'd neglected to cut herself free now that the fight was over, or...

"You can get free of those, right? I mean, now that I'm not trying to attack you, you have time to-"

"Who said I wanted to get free... yet, anyway. You know I trust you."

Terra's lips curved into an even wider smile, and Sanza could soon see what she was getting at... he wrapped his arms gently around her, pulling her close to him, his hands reaching behind her back and meeting just above where Terra's arms crossed.

"You know... now that you're not in danger anymore..." Sanza leaned in, his face drawing nearer to Terra's until the tips of their noses began to touch, "you look kind of cute like-"

Sanza couldn't finish, because Terra's lips were now pressing against his, her mouth opening to engulf Sanza's. He pulled her even closer to him, and Terra reciprocated, pressing her body to his so hard that her injured ribs began to ache... but she didn't care, her pain instantly went away the moment she remembered where she was... in Sanza's arms, completely safe, and though her body was bound, her spirit was free.

A few seconds later, Sanza slowly parted from Terra. He extended his wrist blades, cutting the bands around Terra's arms before retracting the blades again and stepping back.

"You wanna go another round, or..."

"That's okay, I think we got in all the training we needed for today," said Terra, picking up a rock and bending down to cut her ankles free, keeping her eyes on Sanza's the entire time. "Unless you think you need to...?"

"Well..."

Though his powers had clearly improved, Sanza still wasn't quite sure. Despite the marked increase, he'd _only _fought Terra to a draw... and even though he was holding back, he knew that she was likely holding back as well... thus, Sanza still had no way of knowing if his power was even close to that of Slade's. This left him still feeling a bit doubtful.

"I should probably go find my mask first, then we'll think about training a bit more, okay?"

Terra nodded, following closely behind Sanza as he walked with her through the debris-strewn canyon. After about a minute of searching, he saw the mask lying on the ground, half-buried beneath a pile of rubble. He pried it loose from the rocks surrounding it, dusting it off and placing it back over his head.

"Wow... we really smashed up a lot of things in our fight, huh?" asked Terra, trying to lighten the mood once she saw how gloomy Sanza was starting to become. She could understand why... even after that fight, there was still no way for Sanza to know whether he'd gotten strong enough to beat Slade, even as Red X. No matter how many sparring matches the two had, the only way Sanza would ever know for sure just how strong he'd become would be to go out and do battle with Slade once more. _"...and even I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."_

"Yeah, I guess we did," X said quietly, looking back into the canyon and seeing the entire floor almost completely covered with a layer of dust, debris, and rocks of various sizes. "You know, maybe we don't have to train against each other this time... let's just take it easy, maybe I can teach you a few of the moves the True Master taught me."

"I'd like that," said Terra, returning with Red X to the control console. She pressed a series of buttons, transforming the debris-filled canyon into a small, tile-laden platform that almost resembled the inside of Chu-hui's dojo without the walls. "She was going to train me after all of this Slade business was taken care of, but..."

"...let's not think about that right now, okay?"

X stepped onto the platform with Terra, and the two exchanged another long, emotional look... both of them were still afraid, both of them were still guilty, and both of them were still sad... and for the first time, Sanza could see that Terra felt just as badly about everything that had happened back at Chu-hui's temple as he did. He could see the regret she had about not being able to protect him, and the sadness etched on her face because of Chu-hui's memory... unlike Sanza, Terra had actually seen her die.

But then, X could see Terra smiling as she pushed those terrible memories to the back of her mind.

He decided to do the same... and could instantly feel his confidence slowly beginning to return.

"All right, Terra, the first move I'm going to show you is..."

O-O-O

The warehouse complex consisted of five large, separate buildings surrounded by a long, chain-link fence, a fence that did little to stop the Titans from approaching. They decided to head toward the main building first... it was the largest, and from the outside, appeared to consist of two stories, the only one of the five buildings to do so.

As they approached the front entrance, they could see several large trucks parked outside, their backs facing open loading docks at the side of the building... an indication that some sort of activity was taking place inside.

"_Well, Aylesworth was right about one thing... they are doing _something _here... but what?" _

Robin kept asking himself this question as the team walked toward a large, open gate at the front of the building. The gate was wide open, raising suspicion that a trap may be afoot... but the team pressed on anyway. They entered the building and stepped into a large, wide open room where hundreds of cardboard boxes were stacked all the way up to the ceiling... including a wall of them about halfway across the room.

"This is a large place... certainly large enough for Slade to store many dangerous weapons..." noted Starfire, floating a few inches above the ground, while the rest of her friends walked down the wide passageway in the center of the room. As they approached the boxes, several of them began to shake... but only very lightly, and only for a moment, as if something was bumping into them. "What was that?"

Around the edges of the box wall, several humanoid shapes could be seen walking toward the center of the room... and as soon as they came entirely into view, their identity was unmistakable.

Upgraded Sladebots... dozens of them.

"Titans, we've got trouble!" Instantly, Robin crouched into a fighting stance, withdrawing and extending his bo staff as the Sladebots continued coming... ten, then twenty, then thirty... and still, they continued to come out, walking toward the Titans in precise, synchronized steps. _"This is not good..."_

All of the Titans were now on the defensive as Sladebots continued to come out from behind the wall of boxes... there were a hundred in all, lined up in neat, 10x10 rows facing the Titans. They came to a stop, looking straight forward, their silver frames glistening as light shined down upon them from the ceiling.

"Okay... a hundred regular Sladebots we can _definitely _take, but-"

"But this isn't a fight we can win," Raven said, finishing Cyborg's sentence. "We need to retreat, _now_."

But retreat was the farthest thing from Robin's mind... he'd come this far, he wasn't about to leave now, even if it meant having to plow through 100 of Slade's most dangerous robots. His eyes narrowed, his fists clenched, his face took on a look of stern resolution... Starfire knew that look well.

"We're not going anywhere!"

"But _dude..._" Beast Boy whined.

"We can do this if we work together!" Robin shouted, looking back at the rest of his team before facing down the Sladebots, pointing his staff right at the center of their front line. "Everyone, get ready... TITANS, GO!"

Robin charged forward, and Starfire flew overhead, flanking him as he rushed head-long into the massive crowd of Sladebots, who all raised up their hands and began charging energy blasts.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!" shouted Raven, bringing down the entire wall of cardboard boxes down on the group of Sladebots. The boxes rained down hard, disorienting all of them and buying Robin the time he needed to throw a flash grenade into the middle of the crowd. The explosion created a bright light that overloaded the circuits of the robots closest to the blast, shorting them out and causing them to fall over. Several more in the front row were knocked down by Robin's bo staff, and Starfire rained down eye lasers on the rest, destroying several Sladebots in a line.

"Guess it's time for me to get a piece of that action, huh?" shouted Cyborg, his nervousness and fear quickly melting away. Every single missile pod on his body slid open, launching dozens of missiles into the already-fragmented formation of Sladebots. The missiles caused even more havoc, throwing dozens of Sladebot limbs into the air. "Beast Boy, now it's your turn!"

Beast Boy transformed into a tyrannosaurus, running into the crowd of Sladebots and taking a bite out of any that got too close. Meanwhile, Robin was still fighting with his bo staff, swinging wildly through the smoke and sparks that were rapidly being thrown up.

"_These bots were designed to fight in small groups... bunched together in such huge numbers, they're confused and disoriented! They weren't programmed to fight like this... they're just as useless as the old model!" _

Now able to identify the design flaw of the upgraded Sladebots, Robin was filled with confidence, and was able to smash through three more bots with his staff before suddenly being grabbed from behind and held in place. The staff was forced from his hands, and though he fought viciously, he was unable to escape from the Sladebot's powerful grasp. As he fought, another Sladebot walked over and began raining punches and kicks on Robin, blows that he was unable to block due to his arms being immobilized.

"ROBIN!" screamed Starfire, hovering nearby. She started to fly over to assist her friend, but was soon hit with several powerful energy blasts, and was forced to the ground, crumpled up in pain.

"The Sladebots are regrouping!" Raven shouted, flying up as high as she could and firing dark energy blasts at the bots below. Though nearly two-thirds of the hundred Sladebot army had been incapacitated in the opening salvo, the remaining bots had reorganized themselves into small squads to take the Titans down one-by-one. "Now we need to retreat!"

Even Beast Boy found himself over powered, as twelve of the remaining bots had grabbed onto him, wrestling his two-ton body to the ground and forcing him to transform into a tiny mouse in order to escape. He transformed again, this time into a rhinocerous, and plowed into the bots that were trying to get to Raven... only to have the Sladebots evade his charge and continue their attack. One of the Sladebots hit Raven with a powerful sonic disruption wave, forcing her to the ground, where she sat on her knees, pressing her hands to her ears in pain. A short distance away, Cyborg found himself out of missiles. He was now subject to being battered by several of the Sladebots, who punched him back and forth, until his metallic body was covered in dents.

"_I'm not going to let them hurt my friends..." _thought Robin, wildly thrashing his body back and forth. The Sladebot who was holding him tightened its grip, but Robin was determined to get free... and, letting out a scream, threw his body hard to the side. This moved him just far enough to dodge the other Sladebot's punch, and its fist connected with its partner's face instead. This caused it to lose its grip on Robin, who slipped free and quickly threw down a freeze bomb, encasing both Sladebots in a large block of ice. Three more bots quickly rushed Robin's way, and he slammed his staff hard into the floor, leaping into the air and spinning around on it to kick his attackers away. They lunged at him again, and he picked up the staff, swinging it into the chests of the Sladebots and knocking them down.

"Let... me... go!" Starfire was on her knees, being held in place by five Sladebots, which rendered her completely immobile. Through glowing eyes, she looked out and saw Robin's escape... and that in turn inspired her. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

With a burst of energy, Starfire ripped free, sending out an enormous green energy explosion from her body. The explosion slammed into the Sladebots, shattering them to pieces, their limbs landing next to those of the other destroyed replicants. She then turned to see more Sladebots rushing toward both her and Robin, who walked toward one another until they were back-to-back, completely surrounded by a dozen of the remaining enemies.

"Robin! Starfire! Over here!" shouted Raven from a nearly corridor leading out of the room. Beast Boy and Cyborg were standing with her, but some of the Sladebots seemed to be advancing on them as well. "Hurry!"

Starfire quickly nodded, turning around and picking Robin up before he had a chance to respond. She didn't stop or set him down, instead, she continued flying down the hallway, hoping her teammates would get the message and follow her. They did. Raven picked up Cyborg, Beast Boy changed into a falcon, and the Titans raced down the hall, followed by the 25 remaining Sladebots, who rained energy blasts on the Titans as they fled deeper into the building.

"Didn't you guys hear me?" shouted Robin angrily, obviously still wanting to continue the fight. "I said-"

"You said we weren't going anywhere, and we're _not_," Cyborg replied. "We're just losing these Sladebots so we can find out what Slade's up to."

"Yes, we must find a safe place, before-" Starfire was cut off when one of the blasts from the Sladebots hit her in the leg. She let out a quick scream, barely able to hold onto Robin as she slowed down and began to fall back.

"Starfire!"

"I am fine," she replied, her eyes beginning to glow as she increased her speed. "Just hang on!"

Clenching her teeth, Starfire looked back at the Sladebots and began firing her eye lasers at them, continuing down the hall as Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg turned a corner. She held onto Robin as tightly as she could, getting a bit frustrated when she saw that her lasers weren't hitting the Sladebots like she wanted them to.

"I am not damaging them, and they are catching up!"

"I think we lost Raven and the others!" shouted Robin. "We're supposed to lose the Sladebots, not-"

"Perhaps I would be able to concentrate if you would not yell! Please refrain from making noise until I have secured our safety," said Starfire, firing several more eye lasers and finally managing to hit a couple of the Sladebots, who exploded and fell back into the crowd, their scrap knocking back a few of their comrades. "YES!"

As more of Starfire's attacks found their targets, the entire crowd was forced back, until finally, they could no longer be seen. Robin and Starfire had successfully evaded their pursuers, and as Robin let out a loud sigh of relief, Starfire brought the two of them to a safe landing... inside what appeared to be a large, dimly-lit room. Starfire set Robin down, but before he could catch his breath, the Tamaranian wrapped him up in a tight embrace, forcing the air he had managed to gather out of his lungs.

"Robin, I am so glad that we are safe, and I apologize for yelling at you before..."

"It's okay, Starfire, really..." Robin choked out as Starfire released him from the hug. "Let's just find the others and start looking for..."

But as Robin's eyes made a quick scan of the room, he began to realize that he may have already stumbled onto _exactly _what he was looking for. The room was filled with large, liquid-filled chambers... six of them, in fact, hanging from the ceiling. Four of them were empty, while two of them contained a pair of very familiar enemies... the two chambers nearest to the back of the room. The chamber to the left contained a small, red computer chip, and the chamber to the right contained a sleeping, half-naked man.

"Overload... and Plasmus," said Robin quietly, seeing the two monsters in their 'dormant' states. "I figured Slade would have them here... but why are they sleeping?"

"It is simple... when Slade does not need them, he most likely does not want them roaming around freely, so..."

"You're right, he's probably saving them for something... but for _what_? Is he going to unleash them on the city, or just send them after Aylesworth?"

As Robin was thinking, a peculiar thing happened to the chambers... their contents completely disappeared, and the narrow glass tubes connected to them began to glow and hum.

"Now what's going on?" said Robin, once again extending his bo staff and looking around the room. "Where did they go?!"

O-O-O

By diverting away from Robin and Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg had managed to evade their Sladebot pursuers... and now found themselves in a completely different area of the building. They were walking on a narrow, metal walkway, its edges guarded only by thin aluminum railing. The walkway was projected above a large, empty room, much like the room at the front of the building, without the boxes.

"Shouldn't we be looking for Robin and Starfire right now?" asked Cyborg, a slightly worried tone in his voice. "I mean, we sorta left them with the Sladebots... what if they've been captured or something?"

"I don't think that's going to happen," said Raven. "But I agree that we need to find them soon."

"Maybe they've lost the Sladebots by now," Beast Boy said, taking out his communicator. "We could try calling them..."

"Good idea," Cyborg replied, taking out his own communicator and flipping it open. He started to dial up Robin, when suddenly, the walkway began to rock gently back and forth, and a low rumbling could be heard. "...what was that?!"

"Something's approaching from below," said Raven, peering out over the side of the walkway. The shaking intensified, and the rumbling got louder. "Something big..."

Every second, the walkway shook, more violently each time. The rumbling got louder and more frequent, and then became constant... and the shaking got so bad that Beast Boy nearly fell over, saving himself by reaching out and grabbing Raven's hand. Raven gave him an annoyed look, but as another rumble nearly knocked her down as well, she tightened her grip on Beast Boy's hand, looking back out over the edge of the walkway just in time to see a massive beast of stone and metal plow through the wall some fifty feet away.

"It's Cinderblock!" shouted Cyborg, pointing at the enormous, fifty-foot beast began lumbering toward them. "No... it's way too big to be Cinderblock..."

"It's Omega Cinderblock!" Raven said, stepping back and pressing herself against the railing at the other end of the walkway. Beast Boy was doing the same, his grip on her hand as tight as ever... but Raven didn't care, she could feel her heart beating rapidly as the walkway trembled violently back and forth, then began to creak. "The shaking, it's causing the floor we're standing on to lose its structural integrity... we have to move!"

Finally releasing Beast Boy's hand, Raven leapt into the air, taking flight and grabbing Cyborg around the waist. A second later, the walkway collapsed on one side, causing the still-human Beast Boy to slide down and nearly plummet off the edge. He let out a scream, reaching desperately for the end of the walkway as it fell, but grabbing nothing but air... it was only a few feet above the ground that he remembered he could fly, and transformed into a hummingbird at the last moment, averting disaster.

"I thought we destroyed Omega Cinderblock!" shouted Cyborg.

"Apparently, Slade likes to do everything in twos," replied Raven, flying over to one of the room's exits. "Now we _really _need to find Robin and Starfire..."

As Raven flew over to the exit, a powerful lightning bolt slammed into her body, frying both her and Cyborg and knocking them both out of the sky. They fell quickly to the ground, caught at the last moment by Beast Boy, who turned into a massive albatross and gently glided to the ground, slowing the two Titans' fall. He set them down on the ground and detransformed, instantly noticing that both of his friends were unconscious.

"Oh no... oh no..." Beast Boy muttered, shaking his head. He looked across the room and could see Omega Cinderblock, holding up its arms in triumphant victory... the huge beast had stopped moving, and though it was celebrating, it wasn't the one who'd attacked. "But... if he didn't hit Raven and Cyborg, then who-"

Hovering in front of one of the room's exits was a large computer chip, five by three feet in diameter, electricity rapidly sparking off of its body. The electricity began to spark faster and faster, until it became too frequent and too bright to see through... and it began expanding into the shape of an enormous creature. Beast Boy quickly dragged his fallen friends back toward the center of the room, watching in horror as the glow around the chip died down, revealing exactly what had just happened.

"It's... Overload... but... _way _bigger... Omega Overload?"

The gargantuan electrical creature let out a mighty roar, sending bolts of lightning arcing across the entire room. Beast Boy looked toward the other exit, the exit above the remains of the fallen, broken walkway... but it too had been blocked off, by a massive blob of purple ooze that began slowly flowing out of it, forming into a hideous, putrid creature... a pile of sludge so massive that its eldritch stench caused even Beast Boy to begin retching...

"_And Omega Plasmus... who smells a hundred times worse than my room!"_

The three oversized monstrosities surrounded Beast Boy and the unconscious Raven and Cyborg, blocking the exits with their powerful, menacing presence... horrified, Beast Boy was unable to stand, remaining on his knees next to his fallen comrades. He looked at Cyborg, and then at Raven... immediately noticing a massive tear in her costume where Omega Overload's massive lightning bolt ripped through her body... beneath the tear, Raven's burned skin was just now beginning to heal.

"_Raven... I won't let anything happen to you... and you too, Cyborg, I promise, I'll protect you both!"_

But the odds were absolutely overwhelming... and Beast Boy knew that unless Robin and Starfire arrived soon, he didn't even begin to have a chance.

O-O-O

After a couple hours of training, Terra had decided to take a lunch break, and while she was in the kitchen making lunch, Red X remained in the training area, sitting on the floor of the makeshift dojo and pondering everything that had happened in the last few days.

He knew that even though he'd improved, it still wasn't good enough to defeat Slade. Even with his new moves, even with his newfound abilities to focus the energy of his suit, it still wouldn't be enough...

"_But... maybe I'm wrong... maybe I have gotten that much more powerful... I just have to remember everything Chu-hui taught me... I have to remember to focus my energy, the chi within my body... all of it working together, as much as I possibly can..."_

Closing his eyes beneath his mask, Sanza began to concentrate as hard as he could, gathering up the energy in his body and allowing it to flow naturally, in tune with the Xynothium in the suit's reactor. He stood up and extended his arms, holding them at his sides, stretching them out and gathering his energy into his fingertips. The suit began to take on a dim red glow, a glow that slowly faded in and out, in tune with Sanza's energy. He focused even more, trying to channel his energy outward, into the suit itself.

"_Don't try, just let it flow naturally... clear your mind of every thought, focus on one thing and one thing only..."_

He instantly thought of Terra, and a rush of bad memories came to his mind, memories of her beating at Slade's hands. He pushed those memories out, tried to replace them with good ones... their first kiss, the kiss they'd shared just a few hours ago... but still, Sanza began to feel himself weakening.

"_Why aren't good memories working, don't they relax me, aren't they supposed to put me at peace?"_

But those memories didn't calm Sanza, they just excited him... filled him with the passion of lust and the exuberance of love... and this scattered his energy flow, pushed it out of his suit and back down into his body.

"_No... just think of Terra, don't think of anything else but Terra... focus on her face, her hair, her eyes... her eyes..."_

He remembered staring into Terra's beautiful blue eyes, becoming lost in them... seeing her eyes light up filled him with such joy...

"_Pull it back, pull it back, you're getting excited again... just calm down... breathe..."_

Slow, deep breaths, filtered through the fabric of the mask over his face... after the first few breaths, Sanza stopped thinking of them and returned his mind to Terra... and thinking only of her eyes, he began to calm himself again. He stood like this for several minutes, feeling the energy flowing through his body, out of the reactor and through the suit, through him and back out to the suit...

"_Now focus that energy... focus it somewhere, anywhere..."_

Still keeping his thoughts locked on Terra, he began pushing that energy back out toward the suit, and toward the back of his body... just below his shoulder blades, two spots on the back of his suit began to glow. The spots were small at first, the size of pinpricks... but they soon began to grow, reaching nearly four inches in diameter before quickly merging, and then fading, manifesting into physical form and taking the shape of angelic red wings, slowly growing out of Red X's back.

The wings were lined with Xynothium feathers, and Sanza could immediately feel their presence. The moment he lost focus, the wings began to retract into the suit... he quickly regained his focus, he thought of flying, and they returned, flapping once... and lifting Red X two inches into the air.

"What the...?!" X turned to look at the wings, but this time, they didn't disappear... he'd gained conscious control over them, and he tried flapping them again... this time, he got nearly a foot of lift, and let out a surprised shout. "That's amazing...!"

He floated up and down for several seconds, trying to get a hang of the new wings and hoping that they wouldn't disappear again... but they didn't disappear, though Sanza did have a bit of trouble keeping in the air. He tried flapping them rapidly to lift into the sky, but they wouldn't respond, and he found himself floating down to the ground as quickly as he'd gone up.

"_How did I do that? Robin didn't design the suit to do that..." _Still stunned and amazed, X tried to calm himself so that he could get better control over his new gift. He took it slowly, focusing on just flying up a few feet... and he was able to do it, lifting up and hovering in the air by slowly flapping a few times back and forth. "This is so awesome!"

Excitedly, he flew out to the edge of the roof, remaining a few feet above the floor at all times... then, with only a bit of trepidation, he floated over the edge... and after hovering in place for a few seconds, decided to do a quick lap around the roof of the Tower. Once he'd done one lap, he did another... letting out several loud screams of excitement as he picked up speed. After completing a fourth lap, he flew high up into the air, above the roof of the Tower and then back down again, soaring nearly two thousand feet into the sky before making his descent. He landed a short distance away from the door leading back down into the Tower, barely able to contain how thrilled he was.

"_That was the most... incredible... spectacular... amazing..." _Trembling with joy, X clenched his fists and nearly fell to his knees, nearly overcome with excitement and emotion. "Now I know why Starfire's so happy all the time... I have no idea why Raven knocks it, she's more emo than I thought... oh man... that was so..."

"Sanza? Are you okay?"

Terra was standing just outside, about to open the door leading up to the roof. Quickly, X retracted the wings back into his suit, wanting to tell Terra of his newfound ability in his own, special way.

"Uh... I'm just fine, come in..."

Terra opened the door, carrying a tray of sandwiches in her hands. Also stacked on the tray were three two-liter bottles of cola. As she walked toward Red X, he calmly walked over to the edge of the roof, and, thinking that he just wanted to get a better view, Terra followed him.

"Um, Sanza... you're getting awfully close to the edge there, maybe you should-"

Calmly, casually, Red X walked right off the edge of the roof, plummeting to the ground below. Terra let out a gasp, dropping the tray and running desperately forward.

"SANZA!!"

Moments later, she saw him... he floated up to her level, hovering in mid-air with his wings slowly flapping and his arms on his hips.

"Yes?"

X floated back onto the roof and walked over to Terra, whose eyes were wide open in shock and amazement. Quickly, her eyes narrowed, and her mouth curved into an angry frown. She elbowed X hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and nearly bringing him to his knees. His wings retracted back into his suit, and he pulled off his mask, taking several sharp intakes of air.

"Don't you EVER scare me like that again!"

Coughing, X slowly caught his breath, immediately regretting his little prank. He started to apologize, but instead, received one of the tightest hugs of his entire life. Before he could say anything, Terra released him, and he could see that her frown had turned into a wide-eyed smile.

"That said... that was so cool! How did you do that? I didn't know Robin put wings on the suit!"

"He... he didn't. I made them myself... I just thought of everything the True Master taught me about focusing energy, and... well, these wings appeared."

"You know... if you could make the Red X suit fly, and Robin couldn't, then... you think you might be stronger than him?"

"I don't... I don't know, I mean-"

"And if you're stronger than him, maybe you're stronger than Slade! Maybe you _can _beat Slade once and for all, maybe-"

"Maybe we should talk about this while we're eating lunch," said X, sitting down and placing the sandwiches that had fallen off the tray during its trip to the ground back on top of it. Being able to form Xynothium wings on the back of his suit was impressive, but that didn't necessarily mean he'd be able to beat Slade... though the ability to fly certainly gave him a critical upper hand. _"Terra might be onto something..."_

Terra sat down as well, and the two began eating their lunch... and the whole time, Terra tried convincing Sanza that now he _was _strong enough to finally beat Slade... but not just to try and get his confidence back. Now, she truly believed that Sanza had what it took... that with the Red X suit, he was completely unstoppable.

And the more Terra said it, the more Sanza began to believe that it was true... 

O-O-O

Beast Boy looked around the room, trying to come up with some way to defeat the combined might of Omega Cinderblock, Omega Plasmus, and Omega Overload. The only thing that was going his way was that the three enormous monsters weren't attacking... they were just standing there. They were certainly terrifying, but in their current state of mind, they didn't seem to be much of a threat... and their unwillingness to attack gave Raven and Cyborg time to awaken.

"Unnh..." groaned Cyborg, rubbing his head and sitting up to see the enormous Omega Cinderblock still standing across the room. "Oh crap, that thing's still... uggggh, what's that horrible smell?"

"That," said Raven, directing Cyborg's attention to Omega Plasmus.

"You're... you're kidding, right?" said Cyborg, coughing and sputtering violently as he tried to block out Omega Plasmus' terrible stench. "Next you're gonna be telling me that there's a super-sized version of Overload right behind us!"

"There uh... sorta is," said Beast Boy, nervously turning Cyborg around to face Omega Overload. Cyborg's eyes went wide, and his arms hung limp. He began to tremble, and his voice took on a quiet, meek tone.

"Well... wonderful... now we're... _completely _screwed."

"I don't know," said Raven, looking up into Omega Cinderblock's eyes. "It's not moving at all... it's just... standing there... maybe it'll let us pass."

But as Raven floated over to try and escape through the large gap in the wall created by Omega Cinderblock's entrance, the monster let out a massive roar, swatting Raven down with its left arm. The blue-cloaked girl skidded along the ground, landing at Beast Boy and Cyborg's feet. As the two Titans helped her up, Raven too began to show a bit of fear... but she did her best to hold it back.

"_Now _what do we do?" asked Beast Boy, his knees beginning to shake beneath him. "Is Slade trying to torture us by making these things wait as long as possible to kill us, or is he just trying to hold us hostage?"

"I think he might be planning something else..." Raven said quietly. She began to recall something from the recent past, and desperately hoped that she was wrong about exactly what Slade had in mind. _"No... it's too horrible even to imagine..."_

Suddenly, Omega Overload let out a loud, painful roar as several huge explosions engulfed its back. The huge beast stumbled foreward, and Starfire flew into the room through the cleared-out exit, landing with Robin next to Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg.

"We looked everywhere for you guys, we both heard all the roaring and crashing and we thought something terrible had happened!" said Robin, immediately taking out his bo staff and looking around at the three massive creatures in the room. "Apparently, it already has..."

"It's about time you showed up, we could really use your help!" said Cyborg, whose fear had entirely faded as soon as Robin and Starfire made their appearance. The task of taking down all three of these monsters would still be a formidable one, but with all five Titans working together, they did stand a chance... albeit a very small chance. "Anyone up for kicking three enormous butts?"

"I am very much up for that!" shouted Starfire, her eyes and hands beginning to glow.

"I have a much better idea."

The Titans all recognized the voice immediately... and all of them now turned to face Omega Cinderblock, whose enormous stone legs formed a two-foot gap through which the Titans' worst enemy was now walking through... Slade was entering the room.

"Slade... we've already beaten one of your giant monsters before, back at Mt. Cappalani! What makes you think we can't take down all three of these?" shouted Robin, looking right up into Slade's eyes.

"Oh, I know you can take down these three monsters... as difficult as it might be, I know that somehow, you Titans would find a way... so that's why you'll only be facing one monster."

"Uh, dude... three is _totally _more than one," replied Beast Boy, scratching his head. "Why-"

"Because we're not facing one of THESE three monsters!" shouted Raven, no longer holding back any of her fear. "We're facing..."

"Ternion..." said Robin quietly, the color having drained out of his face. Dealing with _regular _Ternion was difficult enough... a Ternion formed out of monsters five times their normal size would create a truly horrific creature... Robin wasn't about to let that happen. "NO!"

Robin ran toward Slade as quickly as he could, but another incredibly loud roar from Omega Cinderblock sent the Boy Wonder flying back toward his friends, right into Raven and Starfire's arms. Omega Overload and Omega Plasmus disappeared, their bodies becoming wisps of energy that floated into Omega Cinderblock's mouth... and soon, the entire room began to shake with incredible force. Omega Cinderblock took on a bright, white glow, its body expanding and quickly punching through the roof overhead... the massive beast grew more than a hundred feet tall, and then two hundred... its shape quickly changing from that of Cinderblock to that of the horrific monster amalgam known as Ternion... though this time, Ternion stood at nearly three hundred feet tall.

Omega Ternion was born.

"It is... unreal..." whispered Starfire, looking up at the massive creature that now dwarfed the building that she and her friends were standing in. By now, Slade had faded back into the shadows, leaving the Titans to face the incredible monstrosity alone.

"Titans... we... we have to fight it!" shouted Robin to his horrified companions. "Come on, we-"

Omega Ternion opened its mouth, letting out a roar so loud that the shockwaves blew away most of the rest of the building... slamming into the five Titans with prodigious force. None of them could stand against it, and in seconds, all of them had fallen unconscious. The roar was so mighty that buildings in downtown Los Angeles, nearly a mile away, had their windows blown out.

But before helicopters could arrive to capture footage of the terrifying beast, it had disappeared... its body sucked into a small capsule in Slade's right hand, a capsule the size of a 20-ounce bottle.

"Such amazing destructive power in such a tiny package... but it is only a small part of what I have planned for this city," said Slade, calmly walking over to the fallen Titans. "I should kill you... but I have much more planned for all of you as well."

And as sirens began wailing through the afternoon sky, dozens of Sladebots rushed into the room to take the defeated Titans away.

O-O-O

Hundreds of miles away in Jump City, Red X and Terra knew little of the Titans' defeat. They spent the rest of the day training, taking numerous breaks throughout to talk, and laugh, and spend time together... the last time they'd have before what they knew would be the most difficult and dangerous mission of their lives.

Just after sunset, the couple made their way to the roof of Titans Tower. Though both of them still had their doubts, they were both ready... ready to do battle with Slade, ready to stop him once and for all.

"No matter what happens, we stay together, all right?"

"Sanza, it's okay... that's not going to happen to me again, not ever... but still... when we fight Slade, I'll be right at your side. I want to take him down just as much as you do."

Holding hands, the two of them walked up to the edge of the roof, and Terra's eyes began to glow. As she started to lift the two of them up on a platform of concrete, X's grip tightened on her hand, signaling for her to give him her attention.

"Sanza...?"

"I was just wondering if I could fly us both to Los Angeles..."

"Are you sure you can fly all that way? And with me hanging onto you?" Though Terra seemed a bit worried, the prospect of flying on Red X's back all the way to Los Angeles did excite her... and she knew she'd be able to carry both of them the rest of the way should he not be able to make the journey. "Well, all right..."

"Just put your arms around my waist..."

As Terra released her grip on Red X's body, he extended his wings outward, flapping them a couple of times and shaking loose a few Xynothium feathers. Terra giggled, wrapping her arms tightly around X and nuzzling her face into the back of his head.

"Well... your mom did say you were my guardian angel..."

"She... really said that?"

"Something like that, yeah... well, are we going to Los Angeles, or-"

Red X immediately lifted off, soaring into the sky with Terra clinging tightly to his body, bearing south and making his way out across the cityscape. As he flew, he felt his wings slightly dampening, held down by Terra's tight grip to his body. He started to lower, but could feel Terra loosening up a bit, allowing him to fly normally again.

"Just don't fall off, okay?"

"Even if I did, I know you'd catch me..." said Terra warmly, her arms wrapping even tighter around X's waist.

"_Either way... I'm not worried about you falling... I'm worried about Slade... I mean, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Terra... all of them can fly, and Slade still beat them, so..."_

X let out a sigh.

"_I need to stop thinking about this... I need to think about something else... think about Terra..."_

And as he focused his mind on Terra once more, he could feel himself lifting higher and higher, his wings flapping almost effortlessly as calming energy flowed throughout his entire body. This energy gave him more than enough to make the entire trip... and he began to believe even more strongly that he could defeat Slade... as long as Terra was with him, anything was possible.

"_Terra... my angel..."_


	25. A Night To Remember

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

From the moment that Robin awoke in the small, dark room that Slade had imprisoned him in, he noticed a loud ringing in his ears... the residual after-effects of Omega Ternion's powerful roar. He stood up and surveyed his surroundings... the room was windowless, and illuminated only by a dim light from the crack beneath the locked door on the other side of the room.

"_Slade didn't kill us...? What's he up to?"_

Robin had barely had time to react before Omega Ternion had knocked out him and his fellow Titans... so when he realized he was now a prisoner, it came as both a shock and a relief... one moment he'd been facing down the most formidable monster he'd ever seen, and the next moment he was alone and trapped in a strange room.

The room itself wasn't what one would normally expect from a prison... it was clean, the floor seemed to be carpeted, and the walls, at least from what Robin could tell in the darkness, were solid white. The room was completely lacking in furniture, it almost resembled an office that had been emptied out.

"Beast Boy! Raven! Cyborg! ...STARFIRE!!!"

No response... at least at first. A moment later, Robin could hear a faint voice in his head... it was Raven, communicating with him through telepathy.

"_You're awake? Good. The others are as well..."_

"_Raven? You can hear me?"_

"_Barely. I haven't heard anything from the others, but I've been able to communicate with them... right now, telepathy is the only one of my powers I _can_ use. Slade's placed some kind of strange device on my wrists... I'm not restrained, they're bracelets of some kind that I can't remove, and even with my chant, I can't use any of my dark energy powers."_

Raven's analysis of the situation was a bit comforting to Robin, who knew that if the others were awake and communicating, that meant that they were likely unharmed. But questions still remained... why did Slade keep the Titans alive, and what did he plan to do with them next? Whatever it was, Robin knew it couldn't be good.

"_So you've talked to Starfire then?"_

"_Yes, and she's fine, she's unharmed, just like the others... though she's also wearing bracelets that restrict her abilities. Beast Boy's been fitted with a collar, from what I can tell, and Cyborg seems to have been injected with a device that shorts out his system whenever he tries to use his weapons."_

"_...injected?" _Robin's inflection, even in his thoughts, took on a bit of a worrisome quality.

"_He senses it inside his bloodstream, his scanners are malfunctioning a bit but he was able to detect the presence of some kind of incredibly tiny mechanism..."_

Robin immediately thought back to when the Titans infiltrated the Brotherhood's lair... the strange device they'd seen inside what remained of The Brain's liquid casing... a device that took the form of an ominous puddle of gray goo.

"_A nanomachine."_

"_That's what I suspected too, Cyborg's running some tests to make sure... I'm worried."_

"_Don't worry, Raven. I'll get all of us out of this somehow, and then we'll get to the bottom of exactly what Slade's planning!"_

"_Be careful. It's likely that if Slade comes in to take one of us, he'll try to incapacitate us first. Did he take your utility belt?"_

Robin reached down to his waist and began feeling around for his utility belt's presence. Sure enough, it was missing... though when Robin reached down inside his left boot, he quickly detected the one device of his that Slade hadn't gotten to... a long, thin screwdriver-like device that doubled as both a weapon and as a lockpick. A smile crossed the Boy Wonder's face.

"_It doesn't matter," _Robin thought back to Raven. _"I'll get it back soon."_

"_BE CAREFUL. You have no idea what's out there."_

But Robin couldn't be bothered to worry about that at the moment. He had to rescue his friends, before Slade decided to act on whatever terrible purposes he had for keeping them alive. He pulled the lockpicking device from his boot and got to work... as smart as Slade had been in taking Robin's utility belt, he'd placed him in a room with a keyhole lock.

"_It's almost like he WANTS me to get out of here..." _thought Robin.

O-O-O

Red X made extremely good time as he flew down the California coast from Jump City to Los Angeles. He picked up speed as he got closer and closer to the city, and was able to make the entire journey in just under two hours... driving there in a car would've taken several more.

"So, Terra... you ever been to Los Angeles?"

"A few times... there was a movie premiere that I _really _wanted to see, so I came down here and tried sneaking into the theater by digging a tunnel. I know, it was a stupid thing to do, I could've put the whole building underground... that's why I took my time, and I ended up getting caught before the tunnel was even halfway finished."

"You're not too good at the whole sneaking around thing, are you?"

"Maybe you could teach me," Terra replied, tightening her grip around X's waist as the skyline of the city drew nearer. "Not like I wanna become a thief or anything, I just-"

"Suuuuuuure you don't," said the thief, laughing to himself as he began his descent. Almost immediately, he could see the bright, flashing lights of firetrucks and police vehicles surrounding the city's major skyscrapers... and upon closer inspection, could see that each and every one of them had their windows almost completely blown out. "Okay, what'd we miss?"

"I have no idea..." said Terra, her voice immediately lifting into a quiet gasp. "...where are the Titans?"

"We're gonna find out," said X, immediately floating down to the ground, just outside of the main downtown area, so as not to attract undue attention from the army of emergency workers below. _"Wherever they are, it must've been some battle..."_

The geomancer and the thief touched down in an alley and began running toward the cadre of people and vehicles surrounding the affected areas of the city. On the streets, people were looking up in bewilderment, pointing up at broken window frames, while others were staring at the ground, amazed by how much glass had littered the city streets. Ambulances weaved their way in and out of the crowds, rushing the injured to nearby hospitals. Barely anyone was paying any attention to Red X and Terra, who darted across streets and through alleyways for several minutes before finally being stopped by a uniformed LAPD officer.

"Hey, where the hell were you guys?"

X and Terra looked nervously at one another, then back at the officer, who pointed up at the damaged building that the three were standing next to.

"Yeah, you guys, about six hours ago... you're two of the Teen Titans, right?" The officer pointed to Terra's communicator. "I noticed that weird gizmo on blondie's waist, the Titans all have 'em, so I figured you two were Titans too."

"Well... _I'm _a Teen Titan," said Terra, gesturing to herself before gesturing to Red X. "And he's-"

"An independent contractor," X replied smoothly. "And we just got here, so we're as puzzled as you. Maybe you could shed some light on this whole situation so we could get to the bottom of it."

The officer gave X a slightly annoyed look before letting out a sigh.

"All right, here's what we know so far. Six hours ago, this big ass monster... musta been as tall as this building here, or even taller, appeared near this warehouse complex on Wilshire. Thing lets out this HUGE roar, I'm talkin 'bout... sounded like a bomb going off or something, and almost every window within two miles just goes boom. Panic in the streets, glass raining down on people... at least a thousand people injured, but nobody dead, thank God for that."

"_Yeah... thank God..." _thought Red X, quickly tracing the Sign of the Cross on his chest. _"But where are the Titans? And where were they when all of THIS shit went down?"_

Terra was wondering the same thing... she looked all around, looked up at the damaged buildings... how could the Teen Titans let this happen? The answer came to her immediately. They couldn't have let this happen, unless someone got to them first... the Teen Titans were in trouble.

"Where did the monster come from, exactly?" asked Terra, who hoped that wherever the monster was last seen, the Titans would be as well.

"From all the accounts of the people who saw it, the corner of 79th and Wilshire. We've got a bunch of officers scanning the place, but we haven't found nothin'. Somebody had to have been there, or that huge monster wouldn't have just popped up, but... it's like whoever was there just up and vanished without a trace."

X and Terra looked at one another again, obviously thinking the same thing. The warehouse complex described by the police officer was obviously being used by Slade for something... but apparently, Slade had vanished again. Still, perhaps he'd left some clues that the officers hadn't been able to find.

"You mind if we go down there and take a look?" asked Terra, not knowing exactly what the officer would say. _"I don't want this to be any harder than it's already gonna be..."_

"Sure thing, it's about time some of you Titans showed up to handle things. What happened to the other ones? Showed up yesterday at the airport, and now they ain't here no more."

"I'm... sure they're doing _something_, they just... they're probably investigating other leads," said Terra, trying to cover for her missing teammates as well as she could.

"They're lazy bums, officer, but don't worry, Terra and I are on the case." X's comment received an immediate glare from Terra, who didn't quite realize that the thief still had an image to maintain. "In fact, I'm so confident that we'll get to the bottom of this that it might be better if you clear all the officers out of that area so Terra and me aren't crowded."

The officer nervously blinked for a couple of moments before offering up his reply.

"I don't have that kinda authority, only the chief of police can do that... I can radio him for you if you want, but-"

"Would you?" X replied, tapping his foot. "And hurry, I have a hunch that the criminal responsible for all of this might still be at the scene of the crime... hiding somewhere, undetectable by anyone who's not a superhero like us."

Terra's eyes widened even more, beginning to wonder if Red X was being smart, or just arrogant. She knew he didn't like playing the hero, but she didn't think he could actually get all of those police officers just pulled off of an investigation like that... but sure enough, after a few seconds of talking with the chief of police over the radio, X turned to Terra and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We've got the place to ourselves now... soon as the chief of police heard that the Teen Titans were in town, he ordered all of his men elsewhere. We can start snooping now."

As X and Terra began running toward the site of the warehouse complex, Terra continued to think about X's remarks... and if it was really such a good idea to get rid of all the police.

"I know you don't want them interfering, but I'm not so sure about exploring that place by ourselves... if something's happened to the Titans, what makes you so sure it's not too dangerous for us?"

"I'm not," Red X replied, "but I figured that if the police didn't find anything, neither would we... I'm just hoping we can find out where the Titans got to."

"So am I..." Terra said, forgetting all about X's earlier remark concerning the Titans being 'lazy bums'. He obviously didn't mean it, and when she heard how much more confident his voice had gotten, she knew exactly why he was talking the way he did. _"He's still trying to get his confidence back... maybe going into this alone with me is just another way to confront his fears... I know exactly how you feel, Sanza, I'm worried too... not just for the Titans, but for us..."_

O-O-O

It had taken Robin less than a minute to break out of the room with his lock-picking device, and once he'd gotten outside, he'd had to deal with only a single upgraded Sladebot guard. He was able to defeat it easily with judicious use of his martial-arts skills... though he still regretted not having any of his gadgets with him, and a thorough check of the surrounding area didn't get him any closer to finding it.

He was in an office building... apparently a large one. Sladebots patrolled the halls, forcing Robin to sneak from room to room in order to avoid being spotted. He checked several offices, unable to find any of his fellow Titans, and with all the Sladebots walking around, he was unable to call out to them to discern their locations.

"_Raven? Raven, I'm out, can you tell me where..."_

She didn't reply, and Robin realized that in order to speak with Raven, it had to be _her _initiating the telepathic link, and not him. He couldn't contact her directly, making it all the more hard for him to find her, or anyone else. He soon turned the corner into a long hallway with several of the Sladebots standing in front of doors... four of them, to be exact.

Robin had found his teammates. Now came the real problem... getting them out.

"_Okay... this shouldn't be too hard... all I've gotta do is lure away the Sladebots." _

He pressed himself up against the wall immediately left of the hallway where the bots were stationed, hiding himself from view while continuing to think of a plan. He looked to his left... another Sladebot was coming around a corner, almost into his line of sight.

"Damn..." he whispered, preparing himself to enter the Sladebot-filled corridor. "Guess I just have to do this now..."

He jumped out into the middle of the hallway, in plain view of all four Sladebot guards, and two additional guards who were walking back and forth. All six Sladebots turned to face him as he stuck out his tongue and waved his hands above his head.

"Look at me!" shouted Robin. "I broke out, come get me!"

The six Sladebots all pointed their weapons and began firing, leaving their posts in order to chase Robin down the hall. He turned left, running straight at the other Sladebot who was now just a few feet away, barely giving it time to raise its weapon before being struck by a leaping kick to the center of its head. It stumbled backward, and Robin rolled behind it, placing both hands onto its back and pushing it hard into the oncoming crowd. The Sladebots instinctively fired, destroying one of their own and creating a large cloud of smoke that Robin was easily able to charge through undetected.

"_I didn't expect them to do _that_..." _thought Robin, throwing out his shoulder to charge through the unsuspecting Sladebots as he rounded the corner again and began running toward the now-unguarded offices where his friends were being held. _"Upgraded my ass!"_

Using his lockpick, Robin was quickly able to open one of the offices, throwing back the door and peering forward into the darkness. There, standing in the middle of the room, was Beast Boy, his arms across his chest.

"It's about time you showed up! Raven keeps refusing to talk to me, she asked me if I was hurt and after I answered she wouldn't do her weird talky thinky thing anymore..." As Beast Boy tried to start a conversation, Robin hastily undid the power-restraining collar around Beast Boy's neck, unlocking it just as the six upgraded Sladebots began filling the doorway. "Dude! Hurry up!"

"You hurry up," Robin replied as the collar dropped to the floor. "Hurry up and transform into something that can get us out of here!"

"You got it!" said Beast Boy, transforming into a rhinoceros. As soon as Robin had hopped onto his back, Beast Boy charged forward, ramming the Sladebots and knocking them over like bowling pins before they could raise their weapons to fire. He continued to charge forward, crashing through the wall of the office across the hallway. Inside was Raven, whose meditation came to an immediate end as Beast Boy plowed into the room.

"...just as I was beginning to _enjoy _my captivity," Raven replied, standing up and rolling her eyes.

"Raven, come over here and I'll undo that those things on your wrists," said Robin, holding up his lockpick. "Hurry, before they-"

A small beam of energy caused Robin to let out a scream, clenching his wrist as the lockpick flew out of his hands and skidded onto the floor. As Raven dove forward to grab it, another energy beam hit her in the side, throwing her body into the wall. Another Sladebot appeared, firing a glowing silver energy net that wrapped itself around Robin and Beast Boy, trapping them both inside.

"Dude!" shouted Beast Boy after detransforming, crying out as the net immediately constricted around himself and Robin. "Unnngh... I can't even move!"

Robin struggled within the net, equally immobilized by its flexible, yet incredibly strong material. As the two of them fought to escape, Raven noticed that the lockpick was now behind the net, hidden from view by the bodies of the trapped Titans... and as all six Sladebots filed into the room, Raven grabbed it quickly, slipping it over to her body and concealing it within her cloak as the bots approached.

"_I need to do this quickly..." _thought Raven, placing her hands behind her back so that she could undo the bracelets without being seen. _"I'm not as good at this as Robin..."_

The Sladebots ignored Raven, walking over to the net where Beast Boy and Robin were trapped. Two of them leaned down and picked up the struggling Titans, hoisting them into the air as another of the bots made its way over to Raven.

"_Come on... come on...!" _Raven worked furiously to remove the bracelets, her hands beginning to sweat as she unlocked the first and moved on to the second. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and just as the Sladebot reached in to take her... _"Got it!"_

Immediately, she pointed her hands out at the Sladebot, firing an energy blast into its chest and throwing it backward. She stood up and turned toward the two bots carrying Robin and Beast Boy from the room.

"Azarath, metreon-"

One of the Sladebots dove to stop Raven, who stepped to the side and kicked it in the chest as hard as she could, knocking it away.

"ZINTHOS!"

A large section of the floor beneath the Sladebots lit up, crumbling to pieces and causing all six of them to fall, including the ones carrying the trapped Beast Boy and Robin. The net around them disappeared immediately, and they landed on the floor, groaning slightly and flexing out their limbs.

"Okay, that was a little bit _too _close..." said Beast Boy, stepping back away from Robin. "I mean, if I was gonna be squished up next to someone-"

"Don't even say it," Raven muttered, knowing exactly what Beast Boy was thinking.

"We still have to save Starfire and Cyborg, let's hurry up and go get them!" shouted Robin, taking the lock pick from Raven and running out of the room before the Sladebots could get up. Beast Boy and Raven soon followed, and soon, all three of them were racing across the hallway to free their remaining friends.

O-O-O

By the time Red X and Terra reached the warehouse complex, the police officers had all filed out, leaving the two superpowered teens to investigate the area. With the largest building in the group destroyed by the rise of Omega Ternion, X and Terra's work was cut down a little bit... but they both knew they still had a lot to accomplish, and they began investigating immediately.

A thorough search of the first three buildings turned up no sign of the Titans or of any of Slade's machinations... leaving one final building, the one in the northeastern corner of the complex. The building was the second largest in the group, but was much smaller than the one that had been destroyed. It consisted of a large room in the center and several smaller, peripheral rooms on the sides... after a search of the large storage room, the pair began looking through the smaller ones.

"You find anything?" asked Terra as she dug through a small, empty file cabinet. X was searching through a stack of cardboard boxes, but aside from a few building diagrams, he could find little of interest.

"I'm starting to think that before Slade left, he moved all his stuff out with him," X replied, slumping against the wall of the room.

"Yeah, but how? The police didn't mention anything about people leaving the area, so either he's still here, or..."

"He tunneled his way out," the thief said, walking toward the entrance of the room. "Start looking for big holes."

"Somehow, I don't think that's quite how Slade did it..." Terra followed X into another of the small office rooms that lined the sides of the warehouse, but after a quick search, nothing came up to indicate that anyone, including the Titans, had been there. "You know, we never checked out that building that got destroyed... maybe-"

"The cops were probably all over that place," said the thief, stopping in the doorway of the office and turning to Terra. "If the Titans were there, the cops would know..."

"Still... we know that's where the giant monster probably came from, so... if that's the case-"

"We can check, but I don't think we're gonna find anything. I really don't."

Figuring that he had nothing to lose by taking Terra's suggestion, and that it would probably be at least a bit less boring than continuing to search through abandoned offices, Red X left the small building with Terra, and the two made their way back over to the large warehouse that had been destroyed by Omega Ternion. The building's roof had collapsed inward, flattening most of the rooms inside and destroying their contents... and with all the wreckage lying around, walking into the building was a bit too hazardous an undertaking. Just before reaching the rubble, X extended his wings and picked up Terra, flying them both about fifteen feet above the building.

"You see anything?" asked Red X, flapping his wings slowly as he scanned the wreckage along with Terra. Below, he could see shattered test tubes, Sladebot parts, twisted metal... but no sign of the Titans, and no sign of anything suspicious. Terra couldn't detect anything interesting either, but once she spotted a relatively rubble-free zone near the center of the building, she directed X to set both of them down.

"I just want to get a little closer, that's all..."

"Well, okay... I just wish the Titans were here to help us clear out all this rubble..."

"It's okay, I know how to do it."

As X set both himself and Terra down, the geomancer did a quick visual scan of the area... then, she lifted up her hands and began to raise up the ground beneath her feet.

"W...whoa, whoa, what are you doing?!" X said, a little bit nervous as Terra began making a small hill beneath the building's wreckage, with herself and X on top. As the grade of the hill became steeper, wreckage began sliding off, revealing the floor and the ground below. "Okay... you're moving all the crap somewhere else... I don't see how that-"

"I'm looking for a tunnel," said Terra, smiling over at Red X as she cleared out more of the wreckage.

"But... you said he _didn't _tunnel his way out," X replied.

"It's an expression, Sanza... it's not a TUNNEL tunnel, but... maybe Slade had some other way of escaping that we don't know about." As Terra was speaking, she pushed the ground beneath X and herself back down, until it was once again flat... with the difference being that most of the wreckage had been moved away. "All right, now we can start-"

"I see something," said X, immediately pointing to a metallic pole a short distance away. Nearly three feet tall, it had what appeared to be a plastic box on top of it, and several sparks were shooting from the box and from the pole. "Looks almost like... a keypad or something."

On the box were several buttons similar to those found on a telephone. It _was _a keypad, and once Terra and X got closer to it, the resemblance was clear.

"I think we found our tunnel," said Red X, looking down at the ground below. "But... I don't see any signs a moving floor, so..."

"Maybe this just went to a door that got knocked down once that big monster showed up," said Terra. "Can you crack the code?"

"Can _I _crack the code... of course I can crack the code, just watch me."

Smiling under his mask, Red X put his hand on the keypad. Electrical impulses began shooting out from his finger tips, decoding the combination in only a few seconds... and automatically inputting it into the display. X then pushed 'Enter', and suddenly, a bright silver light engulfed both himself and Terra. The two both began to let out a scream... before disappearing completely.

O-O-O

Starfire sat alone in the darkness, unable even to use her Starbolt energy to light up the room. She'd tugged at the strange bracelets that had been locked onto her wrists, but had no luck in removing them, and now, she waited for her friends to come and rescue her.

Fortunately for Starfire, that rescue was about to come. She could hear the sound of a lock being picked, and suddenly, the door flew open, revealing Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy.

"Oh, Robin... you have come to rescue me at last!" shouted Starfire somewhat melodramatically, walking over to Robin and giving him a tight hug. "I was so worried that something may have happened to you, are you undamaged?"

"We're all undamaged, Starfire, and we need to go rescue Cyborg before those Sladebots catch up," said Raven, looking down the hallway to see the regrouped Sladebots already coming after them.

"Here, I'll unlock these for you..." said Robin, using his lockpick to undo the bracelets from Starfire's wrists. As soon as both of them were off, Starfire's hands and eyes began to glow, and she quickly flew out into the hallway, letting out a yell and unleashing a flurry of Starbolts and eye lasers on the unsuspecting Sladebots. "..._she was ready to fight..."_

The Sladebots were bombarded, and one of them exploded into pieces after being hit by the concentrated blast from Starfire's eye lasers. The others were able to shield themselves, taking only a small amount of damage from the Starbolts before raising their guns and unleashing a torrent of energy blasts that knocked Starfire backward into Robin's arms.

"Robin, can you and Starfire hold off the Sladebots while we go free Cyborg?" asked Raven. Robin nodded, and Raven and Beast Boy quickly ran down the hallway.

"_That... did not feel good..." _thought Starfire, rubbing her head as she tried to recover from the blasts she'd sustained. "Robin, we must work together to hold them back! You use one of your flash devices, and I will-"

"Starfire, I... don't have my utility belt," Robin confessed, walking up beside Starfire and taking a fighting stance. "It's all right, we just need to keep them busy for a few seconds... once Raven and Beast Boy get Cyborg, we'll be ready to-"

Several strong metallic bands shot out from the Sladebots' blasters, wrapping themselves around Robin and Starfire and pinning them back-to-back in a sitting position on the floor. Immediately, Starfire's eyes lit up, but another band quickly wrapped around them, preventing her from using her eye lasers and rendering her as helpless as Robin. She let out a scream and began to struggle, but this only caused the bands to constrict even tighter, putting pressure on her stomach and forcing some of the air from her lungs.

"Robin...! We must do something, quickly!"

"I know... don't worry, once Raven and Beast Boy bust out Cyborg, they'll help us out! _At least this is better than when I was trapped with Beast Boy..._"

A short distance away, Raven phased through the wall of the office where Cyborg was trapped. He looked up at her, surprised to see that his friend had managed to free herself.

"Raven... where are the others?"

"They're outside, we need to hurry," said Raven. "Were you able to complete that scan?"

"Yeah," Cyborg replied, bowing his head. "It's a nanomachine all right... new model, _way _more advanced than the ones Slade used to get Robin to be his apprentice. Just one of 'em inside my bloodstream is all it took to render my weapons completely useless..."

"Maybe if I concentrate, I can get it out," said Raven, placing her hands gently on the sides of Cyborg's head. "This might hurt... a lot. But we don't have much time."

As Raven closed her eyes, and Cyborg braced himself to have the nanomachine purged from his body, Beast Boy remained outside, watching as the Sladebots walked past the incapacitated Robin and Starfire and started to come his way. He immediately transformed into an elephant, charging forward in an attempt to impale one of the bots on his tusks. All five Sladebots quickly stopped in their tracks, raising their guns at Beast Boy and firing small, electrified harpoons into his body. Beast Boy let out a loud cry and fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Beast Boy!" screamed Starfire, unable to see what was going on, but easily able to hear her teammate's cry of anguish. "Robin, they are hurting him!"

"I know, I'm trying to escape as fast as I can! Get up with me, Star!"

Robin pressed his feet into the floor, and Starfire did the same. On the count of three, both of them pushed up, getting themselves into a standing position... which drew the attention of three of the Sladebots away from the fallen Beast Boy.

"Robin, what is going on?"

"They're looking at us... I'll run toward them, you just hang on!"

As Robin bent down slightly, lifting Starfire's legs up from the floor, the Sladebots pointed their blasters at him, undeterred by the fact that Robin was now coming at them at full speed. He threw himself into the Sladebots as hard as he could, and the combined weight of himself and Starfire knocked all of them over, which distracted the remaining two Sladebots away from Beast Boy.

"Ow... Robin, I do not believe that helped..." Now lying on her side, Starfire could feel a dull ache from where she landed on her shoulder, and was unable to see that the Sladebots she and Robin had just knocked over were surrounding them.

"Grrr..." Robin looked up helplessly, watching as all five Sladebots pointed their guns down at Starfire and himself. He'd managed to distract them from Beast Boy, but now, it seemed that he'd made a fatal mistake. _"Starfire, I'm sorry..."_

A massive blue energy blast emerged from the wall next to the Sladebots, punching easily through it and continuing forward to take out three of the bots that were standing over Robin and Starfire. The remaining two discharged their weapons, only to have their attacks blocked by a glowing dark energy shield.

Cyborg and Raven had joined the battle.

"You guys okay?" asked Cyborg, running over and kneeling next to the fallen Robin and Starfire. He grabbed the metallic bands around their arms and tugged with all of his might, ripping the material free after a few seconds of struggling. "There we go..."

"We're both fine," Robin replied as Starfire helped him to his feet. "Starfire, your shoulder, is it-"

With her arms free, Starfire easily ripped the metallic band from around her eyes, tossing it away and shaking her head.

"It is just sore... do not feel guilty, you did a wonderful job for both of us," said Starfire, leaning in and kissing Robin on the cheek. Nearby, Raven was tending to a detransformed Beast Boy, whose body was pocked with several burns from the harpoons that had been fired into him.

"I shouldn't have left you alone out there," said Raven, a hint of guilt in her voice as she started healing Beast Boy's wounds.

"It's okay... I should've been able to kick those things' butts," Beast Boy replied. "They took me down so fast, I didn't even have time to-"

Several energy blasts rained down near Raven, who would've taken a direct hit had Beast Boy not pushed her out of the way at the last moment. He stood up to see the two remaining Sladebots running toward him, and quickly transformed into a bear to ward them off. He swiped his claw into one of the Sladebots, who responded by issuing a hard punch to Beast Boy's nose. The green bear let out a roar and staggered back, then angrily charged forward and tackled the offending Sladebot, bringing it to the ground and ripping the wiring from its chest.

"One more to go," said Robin, facing down the last of the Sladebots, which turned away from Beast Boy and back toward the Titan leader. "That's right, come at me..."

"Robin, you do not have your utility belt, are you sure you can-"

The Sladebot rushed forward, lunging at Robin in an attempt to wrestle him to the ground. Robin kicked back into the wall, doing a somersault over the Sladebot's head and landing behind it. With a single powerful punch, he was able to create a hole in the back of the Sladebot's frame, and with his other hand, reached in and tore free a large chunk of vital wiring, causing the bot to spark violently before falling to the floor, permanently deactivated. A relieved and surprised Starfire let out a cheer, while Cyborg did a quick scan of the area to make sure no more Sladebots were lurking nearby.

"I think we got all of 'em... there's others, but they're in a different part of the building."

"That's great to hear, but that just begs the question... what building _is _this, anyway?" asked Robin, scratching his head. "It's not the one we were in, that's for sure..."

"I can do another scan to see exactly where we are," Cyborg said, raising his arm up to his face and typing in a couple of commands. "That's... weird, there's some kind of jammer signal nearby, I can't get a lock on our location."

"Are you sure?" Robin replied, walking over to check the readout on Cyborg's scanner. "Try it again."

Cyborg's second attempt was as unsuccessful as the first. An attempt by Raven to use her psychic abilities to discern the Titans' location was also unsuccessful. It soon became clear that Slade didn't want the Titans to have any clue about their current location.

"Let's just try to find a way out of here," said Beast Boy. "Maybe once we escape, we can look around at where we were to find out where we are!"

"That's... not the way I would've put it," said Raven, "but I think you're right. We need to get out of here, not just to find out where we are, but to keep Slade from unleashing more of his robots on us."

"We're not going anywhere until I find my utility belt," Robin said. "And until we find out _exactly _what Slade's up to. It's obvious that this must be his headquarters, and whatever plans he has for the city, we're not going to get to the bottom of them unless we explore this place thoroughly. I know you guys are exhausted, but this might be our one and only chance to stop whatever Slade's planning!"

"I agree with Robin, we must find Slade before it is too late!" Starfire's voice was lined with courage and determination, just as much as Robin's was... she was ready to tear the entire building down if she had to. As tired as she was from the hectic battle against the Sladebots, she and Robin both knew that the Titans still had plenty of work to do. "We must not leave until Slade is defeated!"

Reluctantly, Raven and Beast Boy both nodded their heads in agreement, while Cyborg took the time to raise another important point.

"Let's go look for that jammer signal, the sooner we find it, the sooner we'll know exactly where we are."

But before the Titans could begin their exploration of the rest of the building, a long cable rushed forward from down the hallway. It wrapped tightly around Robin's arms, pinning them to Robin's torso and pulling the screaming Boy Wonder back. The other Titans all looked in the direction Robin was heading... and saw a tall, young-looking man with long silver hair pulling their leader back toward him. The man sneered at the Titans as the bound Robin came to a stop at his feet, face-down on the ground. Around the man's waist was a long, yellow belt with numerous compartments... Robin recognized it immediately.

"...my utility belt!"

"It's _my _utility belt now, along with all of Robin's other cool stuff," said the silver-haired man, holding the end of Robin's Birdcable in his left hand, and a long bo staff in his right. "The name's Construct, I'm Slade's personal bodyguard and mercenary... it's nice to finally meet, though it's easy to understand why we haven't... I was only created yesterday, after all."

The Titans stared in shock at the mysterious man, who'd appeared out of nowhere with Robin's utility belt and had quickly subdued the now-helpless Titan leader... but Starfire didn't stay shocked for long, and instead, she leapt forward, flying head-long at Construct.

"You will release Robin, or I will make you release him!"

Construct simply raised up his right hand, hitting Starfire with a powerful stream of silver lightning. The Tamaranian girl let out a scream and hit the ground instantly, ten feet away from Robin.

"STARFIRE!!!" The trapped Titan began struggling furiously, but the cables were far too strong, and he found his arms completely pinned. "What did you do to her...?" 

"I shocked her with about ten million volts of electricity, formed by the nanomachines comprising my body. It's a low-current charge, so she won't die... but I bet she wishes she could."

Gritting her teeth in pain, Starfire climbed to her feet, shrugging off the other Titans as they rushed forward to help her.

"I will not... allow you... to harm Robin... you may shock me all you wish, I will not be stopped!"

With a determined glare, Starfire stumbled forward, her eyes narrowing as Construct raised his arm to attack her again. It was then that a large, red net appeared from behind Construct's back, wrapping around him and pinning him down to the floor. As Construct fell, two more figures were revealed at the end of the hallway... and the Titans recognized them immediately.

"Terra!" Starfire shouted joyfully.

"And Red X, too!" Beast Boy called out, waving over to the thief.

"Seems you guys were having some problems..." said X calmly, walking over to the trapped Construct and kneeling down beside him. "Gotta compliment you on capturing Robin, I've never been able to do that myself..."

As X taunted Construct, Terra raised up a section of the floor, transforming it into a sharp piece of rock that she used to cut the cables away from Robin's body.

"Are you guys all right? We were wondering what you were doing..."

"We were captured by Slade," Robin replied, "but we escaped. Do you have any idea where we are?"

"No... we were sorta... teleported here," said Terra.

"Damn... teleported from where?" Robin asked.

"The wreckage of the warehouse complex... do you know anything about a really big monster that-"

"We'll explain everything later," interrupted Cyborg, "right now, we need to-"

Construct's hand reached up from the net, grabbing Red X by the throat and lifting him up into the air. As X began to gasp and choke, the Titans watched in amazement as the silver-haired man stood up, his body passing right through the net as if it wasn't there at all.

"A wonderful thing, nanotechnology... my body isn't what it seems, it's comprised of billions and billions of tiny robots, all far too small to be trapped inside something like a net..." By now, the net had completely fallen away from Construct's body, and he was now standing completely upright, still holding Red X high in the air. "But that was a nice try..."

In desperation, X kicked Construct as hard as he could, his leg swinging into the man's side and impacting his ribs. Despite Construct's strange composition, the blow still stunned him, just as it would a normal human being... and he dropped the thief to the ground, clutching the afflicted area and giving X a chance to crawl away.

"Titans, he's weakened, everybody strike now!"

On Robin's command, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg unleashed dozens of energy blasts at Construct's body, engulfing him in smoke and flames. He backed into the wall, and the Titans and Red X surrounded him in a semi-circle, waiting to see the results of the attack. As soon as the blasts stopped, a shockwave emerged from the center of the smoke cloud, slamming into the heroes and knocking them all onto their backs. The cloud was blown away, revealing a battered but still very formidable Construct, who began breathing heavily as the nanites in his body began quickly healing his wounds.

"I see you're all a bit more powerful than I thought you'd be..."

"And faster!" shouted Terra, standing up and levitating a wave of rock from the ground. The wave ripped a large hole in the floor as it rushed toward Construct, hitting him and knocking him back into the wall. Angrily, he drew a freeze bomb from Robin's utility belt, tossing it to the ground in front of Terra. It exploded, encasing the blonde in a large, spiked block of solid ice.

"Terra!"

Immediately, X extended his wrist blades and began chipping away at the ice encased around Terra's body. He was waved off by Cyborg, who produced a blow torch and gave X a friendly smile.

"I know how much you wanna help your girl, but I think I can do this a bit faster... go take out your anger on nano-boy and let me handle the rescuing, okay?"

As Red X reluctantly nodded, Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla, lumbering toward Construct and throwing a powerful punch at his head. Construct raised up Robin's bo staff to block the attack, then struck with a punch of his own, right into Beast Boy's chest. As his hand moved forward, it hardened into a thick metal, which made a loud plunking noise as it collided with gorilla Beast Boy's skin. Beast Boy let out a roar, flying back into the wall and making a large dent.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!" Raven screamed, sending large chunks of drywall forward at Construct from all directions. Smiling, Construct raised up his arms and formed an electrical barrier around himself, catching the drywall and causing it to stop in place. It hovered in the air for a moment, then flew outwards again, forcing the Titans to shield themselves by raising up their arms.

The next to attack Construct was Red X, whose wrist blades made an immediate impact. They slashed across Construct's arms and chest, creating several noticeable wounds before the silver-haired man was able to block the assault with his bo staff.

"I've heard about you... you're the kid who got his ass kicked by Slade... well, _you _shouldn't be much of a challenge..."

Construct used the staff to push Red X back, then took another quick swing with it, hitting X in the side of the head and nearly knocking him over. The thief quickly recovered, withdrawing an electrically-charged X and flinging it at Construct's face. The electrical radiation from the Xynothium began to react with the electrical field given off by Construct's nanites, and the result was soon evident.

"Aaaaaaaaagh...!!! What did... damn you!"

Shrieking in pain, Construct fell to his knees, red and silver electricity sparking outward from his body. Angrily, he ripped the X from his face and looked up to see the thief kicking forward at him. He caught X's kick and pushed him back, then stood up and blasted him with a quick burst of electricity. X let out a scream, clutching a hand to his chest while pointing his other hand right at Construct's forehead.

"Don't you _ever _mention Slade to me again, you pathetic bastard," X said, anger clearly showing in his voice as he fired an explosive projectile at Construct's head. Construct was unable to dodge the attack, and soon, a large blast engulfed his upper body, accompanied by a loud scream. As smoke wafted through the hallway, the other Titans looked on, wondering if this really was the end of their newest foe.

"That was... perhaps a bit excessive," said Starfire, placing a hand to her lips.

Nearby, a shivering Terra kneeled down in a large puddle, the only thing that remained of the ice that once surrounded her body. She slowly stood up, looking over at Red X and at the large cloud of smoke where Construct once stood. Once the smoke faded, she and the other Titans could see the extent of the damage that X's attack had done.

Construct's head and torso were gone, completely blown off... only his legs and waist remained. Red X lowered his arm, thinking to himself that maybe he _had _overreacted a bit.

"_Still... it had to be done. He almost killed Terra, and-"_

Suddenly, Construct's legs began to move... then, above his waist, something else... his body was beginning to construct itself from the belly up. First, the chest, and then the head, the entire process taking less than ten seconds. Immediately, Red X stepped back, and the Titans quickly went on the defensive. Gasping, Construct lifted his head and looked into X's eyes, his regenerated fists clenching tightly.

"Do you know... how much energy it takes... to _do that_?"

"Oh, so maybe if I do it again, you won't be able to grow back? That's nice to know," X replied, raising his arm to fire off another explosive. He had barely opened up his palm when Construct lunged forward, striking him first with an elbow to the face, and then with a knee to the gut, causing X to double over. The final blow came in the form of a wicked forearm that sent Red X immediately to the ground on his back, gasping for breath. As Construct lifted his leg to stomp on X's chest, several Starbolts slammed into his back, causing him to turn around and see Starfire just a few feet behind him.

"I suppose you want to get knocked down too, right?" Construct shouted, blasting Starfire with another powerful electrical burst that caused her to scream and fall to her knees, trembling in pain. Smiling, Construct reached down to his waist... only to realize that Robin's utility belt was no longer there. "What the..."

"Looking for this?" Robin said, holding up the utility belt. "I slipped it off right after you regenerated... I guess it was a good time to do it, since you didn't notice even a tiny little bit..."

Robin hastily put the utility belt back on, and as Construct charged toward him, withdrew his bo staff and slammed it down on the man's forehead, sending him tumbling back into the wall. Looking around, Construct could once again see Red X and the Titans surrounding him, and as he tried to generate another energy shockwave, the silver sparks around his arms indicated that he no longer had the ability to do so... at least until he was able to recharge.

"Looks like you're outta juice," said Cyborg, smirking to himself.

"Out of luck," Raven added, "and out of time."

"Tell us now," said Robin sternly. "What's Slade up to?"

Frantically looking back and forth to measure up his options, Construct saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him smile... and a few seconds later, Cyborg detected it as well.

"Robin, we've got Sladebots... dozens of 'em... incoming!"

Sladebots were approaching from both directions, charging forward from the ends of the corridor, rushing to the aid of their defeated ally. Letting out a growl, Robin backed off from Construct, and the other Titans did the same, allowing him the space he needed to escape. He ran toward one of the groups of Sladebots, pointing at the Titans the entire time.

"Get them, don't let them escape!!"

"What do we do now?" asked Terra, who leaned on Red X's shoulder as the Sladebots approached. Robin quickly looked to the left, and then to the right... there was a hallway leading off in another direction that would allow the Titans to escape... but where would they go from there? 

"_No time to worry about that... _come on, Titans, this way!" Robin quickly ran forward toward the group of Sladebots that Construct was now leading... but instead of plowing into them, he turned quickly to the left, and X and the rest of the Titans followed. The two groups of Sladebots soon merged into one and began pursuing the heroes down the hallway, following them at every turn they made.

"I don't think that helped us..." Raven noted, looking back to see Construct and the huge group of Sladebots hot on the Titans' heels.

"We're not going to be doing any more exploring, that's for sure," said Beast Boy, who then transformed into a cheetah so that he could keep up with the rest of the group.

"I remember this hallway!" shouted Terra. "The transporter that Sanza and I came from is in a room nearby... we can use it to get out of here!"

Levitating a small chunk of the floor beneath her feet, Terra quickly floated out ahead of the other Titans, leading them into a small room containing a circular platform in its center. Next to the platform was a keypad similar to the one back at the wrecked warehouse... it was an identical teleporter, and the group could use it to escape.

"Wait a minute!" shouted Robin, watching as Red X and the other Titans stepped up onto the platform. "We can't just leave... this is where Slade is planning everything, if we leave now, we might never be able to stop him!"

"And if we don't leave, we're gonna get our butts kicked by those Sladebots and that Construct guy!" Cyborg shouted back. The door had been closed, but outside, the Sladebots were pounding at it with their fists, and it didn't take the Titans long to realize that within a few seconds, the entire room would be flooded with them... and with Construct to coordinate the Sladebots' attack, the Titans wouldn't be able to overcome the numerical odds again.

"_Dammit... it's not fair... we can't leave now, not when we know EXACTLY where Slade is planning to strike from... but if we stay, we're dead... I just hope I can use the teleporter to get back here later on..."_

Reluctantly, Robin stepped up onto the teleporter, and Red X placed his hand on the keypad, quickly inputting the code.

"Hurry up, hurry up, they're about to knock the door down!" Terra shouted, crouching down and readying herself to block off the door with debris should it be breached. Fortunately, at that moment, the code finished inputting itself, and Red X was able to press the 'Enter' button. The Titans and X were teleported out of the room just as the Sladebots knocked down the door and rushed inside.

O-O-O

Back in the wreckage of the warehouse, the Titans and X re-appeared around the teleportation keypad. After breathing a momentary sigh of relief that they'd escaped from the Sladebots, Robin walked over to the keypad and stared down at it for a few moments.

"We're going back... just as soon as those things think we're not..."

"But Robin, what if they decide to come _here_?" asked Starfire, causing all of the Titans except for Robin to step a good distance back from the teleportation point. They waited for a few seconds, but... "...I was just making sure..."

"If they come here, they leave Slade's headquarters unguarded," said Robin. "But we're going back... that's-"

Before Robin could finish his sentence, the keypad began to spark. Immediately, Robin extended his bo staff, thinking that perhaps a few of the Sladebots had come through... but instead, something entirely different happened. The keypad exploded into numerous pieces, showering Robin with shrapnel and sparks, and causing all of the Titans to gasp. Robin just stood there, brushing small pieces of metal from his clothing and staring down at the remains of the keypad, the only way the Titans had of returning to Slade's base.

It was gone... there would be no returning. Angrily, Robin slammed his staff down repeatedly on the large metallic stand on which the keypad used to be mounted. He let out a cry of frustration, kicking the stand several times before Starfire could rush up and comfort him.

"I KNEW we shouldn't have left!" Robin shouted. "Dammit, now we can _never _go back there!"

"Anger is pointless," Raven replied calmly. "We will find a way..."

"We had to be captured just to reach it the first time, how do you think we're going to get back there again?" Robin asked.

"Uh... let ourselves get captured again?" Beast Boy suggested, causing the others to glare at him. "...just one of us maybe?"

"...come on," Robin muttered, turning away from the wreckage of the warehouse and heading back to the nearby street. "We're going back to the hotel room... X, Terra, there's only six beds in the suite, but since I'm not going to be sleeping, one of you can have mine..."

"I was, uh... thinking maybe we could share a bed," X replied with a bit of hesitation. He looked over at Terra, who giggled and nudged him playfully in the side.

"We can share a room," Terra said, turning back toward the other Titans. "Are you guys going back too?"

"Yes..." said Starfire, though Beast Boy wasn't quite sure. He looked over at Cyborg, and then at Raven.

"C'mon, we're in LA! We gotta see _some _of the sights... the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame..."

"...Beast Boy, it's almost midnight. All of the restaurants are probably closed, and the Walk of Fame would be too hard to see."

As Raven and Starfire walked over to join Robin, Cyborg walked up to Beast Boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"C'mon, I'm sure there's _someplace _fun in Los Angeles that's open all night," said Cyborg. "Besides, I haven't eaten since this morning... I'm starvin'!"

"Sweet, late-night snackage it is!" said Beast Boy, pumping his fists. _"Still... I REALLY wish Raven would come along with us, I mean... well, I just wanted to talk to her is all..."_

Beast Boy looked back over at Raven, who was beginning to glow as she stood on the sidewalk nearby. Starfire had already picked up Robin to fly him back to the hotel, and Raven was able to follow them.

"Hey, Raven!"

The blue-cloaked girl turned her head to look at Beast Boy, who was frantically waving at her in an attempt to get her to come along. She glared at him, then looked up at Cyborg, who was offering a friendly smile.

"C'mon, Rae... I _know _you're totally a night person," said Cyborg. With a quiet sigh, Raven walked back over toward the two Titans.

"All right, but only if _I _get to pick where we eat."

"Sure, you're the lady, after all," said Cyborg, who then turned to Red X and Terra. "What about you guys, are you coming with us, or..."

"I suppose we-" Terra began, before X interposed himself between her and Cyborg.

"Actually, there's... something I wanted to show you, you've probably already seen it, but it's like my favorite place in Los Angeles, and I've really wanted to go there with you..."

"Really?" asked Terra, a bewildered look appearing on her face. "Where is it?"

"Can we come too?" Beast Boy asked, poking his head between X and Terra.

"_I sorta wanted to go there with just Terra..." _thought X, rolling his eyes beneath his mask as he contemplated whether or not he should invite three of the other Titans along. _"Well... I guess it _would _be more fun with more people... and I'm sure I could get some alone time with Terra while I was there. _...all right, you guys can come along too. But only if you can keep up."

As soon as he'd finished speaking, Red X began to concentrate... and two large Xynothium wings appeared from the back of his suit. Beast Boy quickly did a double take, his eyes going wide as he leapt away from X.

"You just... are those...?!" Beast Boy couldn't get out the words, but Cyborg could, and it was easy to tell that both of them were impressed.

"You got wings, man! How'd you get wings?"

"I just got 'em," X replied calmly, walking over behind Terra and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.

"Don't tell Robin about those," Raven replied, her neutral expression giving little indication about whether or not _she _was impressed by X's new ability. _"He's got enough to worry about without having to know about you becoming even _more _skilled with the Red X suit than he was..."_

"Eh, I'm sure he'll find out soon," said X. "Terra, you ready to go?"

"As always," she replied, smiling warmly as she placed her hands on top of X's and held on tight. _"I wonder where he wants to go?"_

Terra knew she would find out soon, and after Beast Boy had transformed and Raven had lifted up Cyborg, Red X took off into the skies above Los Angeles, flying off to the west and leading his companions toward their late-night destination.

O-O-O

As soon as Robin returned to the Titans' hotel room, he immediately logged on to his computer and began furiously typing away, searching for any clue as to where Slade might be or what he was planning. He didn't care how exhausted he was, or that he had several bruises on his body that needed treatment... he wasn't going to sleep until he had a clue as to where he and the Titans had been just minutes ago.

"Robin... are you truly going to be staying up all night?" asked Starfire, walking over and pulling up a chair next to Robin, her voice rife with concern. "I understand that we must find Slade quickly, but you know that this is not healthy for you."

"Starfire, please... just let me work. I'm searching for every source of nanotechnology in the area. It's a new science, so I know there are only a few people working on it, and if I can find them, one of them might know where Slade is..."

After running a quick search, Robin quickly located the three best nanotechnologists in the entire city. One of them was a young woman 29 years of age, the other was a 70-year-old man, and the third was a 49-year-old man with graying hair.

"_That _narrows it down..." Robin said to himself, smiling a bit. "I thought there'd be more..."

Upon seeing how well Robin's search was going, Starfire breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Robin wouldn't have to push himself so hard to find a new lead. He'd worked so hard already, he deserved a break... especially since he needed all the strength he could get for the fight against Slade.

"Robin, do you wish for me to pick something up from the small refrigeration chamber?" asked Starfire, pointing to the minibar in the corner of the room. "A soda, a piece of fruit, perhaps a bottle of milk..."

"This is _really _strange..." said Robin, staring forward at the screen. "I cross-referenced some things, and apparently, the 49-year-old reported his daughter missing last week... and had her reappear shortly afterwards... the whole thing seems really strange, I think Slade might've been responsible."

"Do you suspect Slade may have taken the man's daughter to get him to do something for him?" asked Starfire.

"I don't _suspect_, I KNOW," replied Robin, checking the man's address before getting up and walking toward the door. "Starfire, come on!"

"Wait, should we not notify the others about-"

"We can call them on our communicators if we need them, but I don't think we will," Robin said, opening the door and walking out into the hallway. Starfire quickly followed him, and though she tried to look as serious as possible, she couldn't help but smile at Robin's quick success.

"_He seemed so angry and sad after losing Slade the first time... I am so glad that he has found another lead! Do not worry, Robin, I will make sure that this time, Slade does not escape so easily..."_

O-O-O

By the time Red X approached his destination, Terra could quickly tell where he was taking her and the others... the world-famous Santa Monica Pier, its amusement park clearly visible as X began his descent.

"Oh, I know this place!" Terra remarked. "I didn't actually go out onto the pier, but it looked really pretty..."

"My mom brought me and my sister here a couple of times on day trips," said X as he landed in front of the pier's main entrance. Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy landed a few seconds later, the changeling letting out a squeal of glee as he ran past Red X into the park.

"I totally forgot about this place! It's awesome!" cried Beast Boy excitedly.

"It's also closed," said Raven, scowling as she followed Beast Boy into the park. "It's all dark, and none of the rides are moving..."

Calmly and casually, Red X approached the control panel for the park's Ferris wheel. He looked down at it for a moment, then placed his hand down on top of it, sending an electrical surge through the control panel that activated the Ferris wheel, lighting it up and causing the buttons on the panel to glow.

"...well, I should've seen that coming," Raven replied, unsure of what to do as Beast Boy eagerly walked up to the activated ride. _"I'm not so sure about any of this... this has to be trespassing, it's a crime to be here... and we're superheroes, so I don't think we should be committing any..."_

But as she was thinking, Cyborg had run past her, and both he and Beast Boy were waiting for Red X to start up the ride.

"...hold on a minute, Sanza," said Terra, walking over to Raven. "Something wrong?"

"This _can't _be legal," Raven said. "Not that I'm against having fun, but-"

"I know, we should've come here in the daytime... but we're the Teen Titans, there shouldn't be _too _much of a problem... besides, you already admitted that it was gonna be fun."

"...did I say that?" Raven stammered, looking over at the Ferris wheel, and then back at Terra, trying to conceal her growing excitement. "You know me, I only have fun in the dark."

"I can have Sanza turn off the lights... I think the ride still works then," said Terra, giggling to herself. "C'mon, Rae... we might not get a chance to come back here again, at least not until Slade's defeated."

Raven looked up at the Ferris wheel again, then began thinking to herself. Should she really be doing this? Even if it _was _legal, which it wasn't, there was still the matter of Slade... was it really right to be enjoying herself with the threat of Slade looming over the city?

"_I guess I do need to relax a bit... well... all right then," _Raven thought, hoping that she wouldn't regret it later. She walked over to the Ferris wheel and stood next to Beast Boy and Cyborg as Red X got ready to start the ride. "But we can't stay here long."

"Are you kidding? I wanna ride everything at least once," said Beast Boy excitedly. He looked up into Raven's eyes, and the half-demoness could see the smile growing on her changeling friend's face. "Wanna ride the Ferris wheel with me?"

"...aren't you riding with Cyborg?" Raven asked. Cyborg looked at her, then over at X, who was standing at the control panel as Terra walked over to him. "Cyborg?"

"...y'know, I think I'll run the Ferris wheel," said Cyborg, immediately walking over to relieve Red X of his duties. A few seconds later, X and Terra were walking over to the Ferris wheel together, and Raven knew that she'd either be riding with Beast Boy, or riding alone.

"_Alone sounds _real _nice..." _thought Raven, rolling her eyes as Beast Boy began pouting at her. _"You have GOT to be kidding me."_

Reluctantly, Raven got into a seat with Beast Boy, while Red X boarded the seat behind them with Terra.

"...you know, I think they'd be a LOT cozier if we were a few seats back," said Terra, climbing up from her seat and pulling Red X out with her. "Cyborg, take Beast Boy and Raven to the top, then me and Sanza will get back on!"

"What?!" Raven shouted, her eyes widening as Cyborg gave Terra a thumbs-up and turned on the Ferris wheel. "...is the whole _world _conspiring against me today?"

"Oh, come on... I won't snuggle up with you if you don't want me to," said Beast Boy, scooting as far to the side of the seat as he could and giving Raven plenty of space. _"C'mon, reverse psychology..."_

"...that's fine with me," said Raven, scooting as far as she could to the other side. _"By the way, when we're this close, I can hear your thoughts... even when you don't want me too."_

Beast Boy let out a started scream, nearly jumping out of his seat as Raven's voice echoed in his head. As the Ferris wheel came to a stop, he began trying to clear every single thought he was having about Raven out of his head, lest she see or hear something that made him seem like a pervert.

"_...only your VERBAL thoughts, Beast Boy. Though I _know _that look."_

Beast Boy slunk even further away, curling up against the side of the seat and burying his face into his arms, trying to hide himself from Raven's view. She stared at him with an emotionless expression, trying to hide the growing amusement she was having with the entire situation.

"_Is he really THAT concerned about what I think?" _Raven thought to herself, thoughts that Beast Boy couldn't hear. _"I feel kind of bad for enjoying this now... I know he really _does _care about me, but he's just... I don't know... this isn't the time to think about it anyway."_

Back on the ground, X and Terra climbed into the seat opposite from where Beast Boy and Raven were sitting.

"You feel bad for Beast Boy or something?" X asked, wondering if perhaps Terra might be pushing Beast Boy and Raven together because she felt a bit guilty about leaving him. "Or did you and Raven have another fight?"

Terra giggled at that last comment, then quickly shook her head 'no' to both questions.

"Just thought it'd be cute for the two of them to spend a little time together... I know how much Beast Boy likes Raven, after all."

Terra saw that the moment that Beast Boy had to choose between them... how much agony it gave him when Sedaris had both she and Raven trapped, their lives hanging in the balance... but that seemed so long ago now. So much had happened since then... especially to Terra.

"By the way, I forgot to ask... how are you holding up? Are you confident about taking on Slade now, or..." Terra trailed off as the Ferris wheel began to move, and she started to think that it might not be the best time to ask such a question... this was supposed to be their time to _relax_, not to think about Slade... that would come tomorrow.

"I feel pretty good... seeing you trapped in that ice was pretty tough, but... I think I showed Construct exactly what happens to people who try to mess with you," said X, his voice clearly showing that his confidence had somewhat returned. "How about you, you okay?"

"I'm still a bit cold..." said Terra, prompting X to immediately pull her closer to his body. She smiled up at him, nuzzling her face against his cheek to warm her nose. "That feels a lot better..."

X and Terra had reached their apex on the Ferris wheel, and as the two looked out, they could clearly see the beautiful city illuminated against the night sky. It was an amazing sight... Los Angeles was so much bigger than Jump City... it was sprawled out over dozens of miles, an endless sea of light... and it made Terra instantly realize what she was fighting so hard to save.

"_I can't let Slade destroy this city... I won't let him hurt anyone else... I'd give up my life to stop him."_

O-O-O

It had been an incredibly trying week for Ian Seslam, Los Angeles' foremost nanotech researcher. A few days ago, he'd gotten a mysterious message about his fourteen year old daughter who had gone missing just hours before. He'd spent the next few days doing unspeakable things to get her back... he knew that his actions would likely lead to many deaths, but he was a weak man, and he loved his daughter very much...

He'd spent the past few nights crying himself to sleep, and this night hadn't been any different. But instead of being awakened by a nightmare, he was awakened by the sound of a young man's voice... and opened his eyes to see that young man, concealed in shadow, standing at the foot of his bed.

"Mr. Seslam?"

The man started to let out a scream, only to have a soft, orange hand clamp over his mouth... it was Starfire, who looked down and raised a finger to her lips, trying to calm the terrified nanotechnologist.

"Please, we do not wish to harm you... we only wish to ask you a few questions about Slade..."

"What... what about Slade?" stammered the man as soon as Starfire removed her hand. He sat up in his bed, clenching the covers tightly to his body. "That bastard kidnapped my daughter, if he ever lays another finger on her again-"

"We're trying to stop Slade, and you can help us," said Robin, walking around to the opposite side of the bed, across from Starfire. "We know he's about to attack the city."

Upon hearing Robin's words, Seslam began to tremble and shake, his eyes immediately watering up with tears.

"I... I knew it... I knew he was planning something... oh my god... I've gotta get out of here, I have to take my daughter and get out of the city... it's all my fault!!!"

"Please, it is not your fault," said Starfire in as calming a tone as she could, placing her hand on Seslam's shoulder and trying to assuage his fears. "We understand everything... your daughter was in danger, you did what you had to to save her..."

Starfire's words did little to calm the horrified Seslam, who looked over at Robin and drew little comfort from his intimidating glare.

"I... I don't wanna go to jail! Please, I only told him that stuff because he threatened my daughter, he was gonna kill her... please-"

"What did you tell Slade?" asked Robin, leaning in close and looking right into Seslam's eyes.

"Robin, please! Can you not see that he already feels terrible about everything that is-"

"WHAT DID YOU TELL SLADE?!" Robin repeated, raising his voice significantly. _"I know, Starfire, but we don't have much time here!"_

"I told him everything! I told him how to build a nanoreplicant, told him how to create a nanoteleporter..."

"_Nanoreplicant... nanoteleporter..." _Robin knew exactly what Seslam meant by those terms... Construct was obviously the replicant, and Robin and the other Titans had used the teleporter. What he wanted to know is exactly where the teleporter was... or at least where it _used _to be, before Construct and the Sladebots had destroyed it. "Tell us more, and slow down. You won't get into any trouble as long as you cooperate. What exactly did you tell Slade?"

Robin's calmer tone finally managed to put Seslam at ease, and he stopped gripping his bedsheets so tightly, looking up at the two Titans and relating his story as calmly and as clearly as he could.

"A few days ago... my daughter went missing... and I got a call from this man... Slade... he told me he was holding her hostage, and if I didn't go along with all of his instructions, he'd kill her! I couldn't... I couldn't say no, he had a gun to her head, and-"

"We understand," Robin replied. "Continue."

Seslam continued telling his story... he told Robin and Starfire how Slade had forced him to collaborate on several projects, all involving nanotechnology. He forced Seslam to help him build an array of weapons and devices, including the replicant that the Titans had fought, and the teleporter they'd seen back at the warehouse.

"...and where does the teleporter lead?" asked Robin.

"I don't... I don't know," Seslam muttered, shaking his head. "Slade just wanted to know how to build one and how to program it, I built one for him at that warehouse you told me you were at earlier today, but I don't know where he built the other one."

Robin wasn't satisfied with this answer, and he wondered if perhaps Seslam may have been hiding something... he leaned forward and grabbed the man by the collar of his pajama shirt, pulling him close.

"Are you SURE?"

"Robin!" Starfire protested, but Robin ignored her.

"I swear, I don't know!" Seslam cried, his mind racing to find some way to help out the Titans and get their leader off of his case. "But I know how you might be able to find out!"

O-O-O

After more than an hour of riding rides and playing the games on the midway, Beast Boy hadn't had nearly enough of the pier... but Cyborg's rumbling stomach told him that one o'clock in the morning was about the latest that he could stand going without food. Fortunately, he, Beast Boy, and Raven had managed to find the one restaurant on the pier that stayed open twenty-four hours... and while Red X and Terra opted to spend more time outside, the three Titans made their way into the diner and sat down for a late-night meal.

"As soon as we get done eating, I'm going back out to the pier!" shouted Beast Boy, just before shoveling a large tofu burger into his wide-open mouth.

"As soon as we get done eating, I'm going back to the hotel," Cyborg responded, letting out a yawn as he dug into a large, 12-ounce steak. He glanced across the table at Raven, who was seated next to Beast Boy, taking the seat furthest away from the window. "How's your salad?"

"...not bad, actually," said Raven, applying a moderate amount of salad dressing before taking another bite. She looked up at Beast Boy, who was wolfing down his second burger in a row, and seemed poised to go for a third. "I had fun tonight, Beast Boy."

Seeing the direction that the conversation was starting to take, Cyborg excused himself from the table, heading over to the bathroom and leaving Beast Boy and Raven alone with each other's company, much to the blue-cloaked girl's momentary annoyance.

"Oh... you did? Was it because you were hanging out with me, or-"

"It was because I was hanging out with _all _of my friends," Raven replied. "All except for Robin and Starfire... _I wonder what they're doing right now?_"

Seeing that Raven wasn't quite so annoyed with him as she'd been on the Ferris wheel, Beast Boy decided that now might be the time to make his move. He shoved his plate aside, swallowed the last bits of food that were still in his mouth, and tried to think of a joke he might be able to use to make Raven laugh.

"_Let's see... already told her the one about the stork and the library... I've used ALL my puns, and she hates those..."_

"...I can still read your thoughts, Beast Boy."

Letting out a gasp, Beast Boy pressed himself against his seat and started to slink beneath the table. To his surprise, Raven reached over and pulled him back up, guiding his head toward hers so that he could see eye-to-eye with her.

"Listen... I know I laughed at the very first joke you told to me, and... I guess that probably sent up a signal that I would laugh at _all _of your jokes..."

"Well... yeah, I mean-"

"So you started telling them to me at the rate of twenty an hour. That's enough to wear _anyone _out, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy blinked at Raven for a few moments, trying to think about exactly what she was getting at. Then it hit him.

"So... you want me to stop telling jokes altogether?"

"_...that might be nice," _Raven thought to herself before dismissing the idea, a bit quicker than even she might've guessed that she would. _"Of course I don't, I just wish he'd stop telling them a lot less often. But I can't ask him to change who he is..."_

"Rae... you're thinking, aren't you? You want me to stop, I get it, okay-"

"I suppose you'd prefer it if I stopped being so sarcastic all the time."

Beast Boy blinked for a few seconds, then tried to come up with an honest answer. It was difficult, as he really didn't know exactly how he felt about that... as sarcastic as Raven was, she was also caring and kind whenever Beast Boy was really feeling down... and he already knew he cared deeply about Raven, sarcasm and all.

"Maybe a little less often, but... I still really like you, I like you for who you _are_... it's kinda tough to express it, with Terra it was easy, but-"

"Don't worry about it," Raven replied. She reached forward and took Beast Boy's hand, pulling it over to the middle of the table and gently pressing it between both of her own. "You wish I enjoyed your jokes more. So do I. All right? I really do... because at the rate you tell them, if I enjoyed them all, I'd be laughing nonstop."

"...but wouldn't that make your powers go all crazy and stuff?"

"Yes, Beast Boy, it would. I hope you understand what I'm getting at-"

"You could go out with me if you didn't have your powers?"

"...no, Beast Boy, that's not what I meant at all," said Raven, loosening her grip on Beast Boy's hands a bit. "What I meant is... _Cyborg, come on... I know you're doing this on purpose, come on out of the bathroom, don't leave me alone with him, I might actually start-"_

Beast Boy began to laugh, and Raven instantly realized that she'd been transmitting her thoughts to him for the last few seconds now, the connection made by her hands touching his. She quickly pulled them away, placing her hands in her lap and trying to focus her attention elsewhere, like the ceiling... but it was already too late.

"Now you know how it felt earlier..." said Beast Boy, still giggling slightly to himself. "C'mon, Raven, laugh... I know you wanna!"

Raven just let out a sigh, leaning back into her seat and waiting for Cyborg to return. The problem wasn't her powers, the problem was knowing whether or not she could put up with Beast Boy's annoying tendencies long enough to form any sort of meaningful relationship with him... assuming she even wanted to form one in the first place.

"_I suppose I could put up with his jokes... and he could put up with my sarcasm... I mean, he already likes me regardless, so I suppose..." _Raven made sure to conceal _these _thoughts from Beast Boy... she didn't want him suspecting that she was seriously considering... _"And... _some _of his jokes are still funny... but this really isn't the time for me to be thinking about this sort of thing."_

O-O-O

Below the pier, Sanza and Terra sat together on the beach, watching as the moonlight glistened off of the gentle waves, waves that lapped at the couple's bare feet, their toes digging into the soft sand. Sanza had removed his Red X costume, hanging it up on one of the boards holding up the pier... and then they'd both removed their shoes and socks, as walking on the beach felt a lot more comfortable without them.

"It's so peaceful..." Terra said quietly. She'd wrapped one of her arms on Sanza's, and the two were taking turns leaning their heads on the other's shoulder... right now, it was Sanza's turn. "You think we could come back here after we beat Slade?"

"You mean... right after? Or go back to Jump City, then come here a few weeks later during the summer?"

"I mean right after. I mean we beat Slade, then come down here and celebrate, just you and me."

Sanza smiled at that thought... the thought of Slade finally being gone from his and Terra's lives forever... the thought of all those nightmares he was having finally going away... or at least losing a bit of their edge with their main subject gone.

He thought of peace... of a life beyond even the Red X costume, a life together with Terra... even stealing a trillion dollars worth of gold wouldn't give him the kind of rush that he had with her, wouldn't lift his spirits like it did whenever he saw her smile.

"Of course we can, Terra..." He raised his head back up, and felt Terra's head immediately grace his shoulder. He peered down at her midriff, wincing at the sight of her still-bandaged ribs... just another reminder of the horrific ordeal he and Terra had faced up on that mountain. He was still afraid... even though he was finally confident that he could stand up to Slade in a fight, he was afraid of what might happen should he lose. "We'll get him... tomorrow, I know we will..."

"Mmmm... Sanza, don't worry... next time you fight him, I'll be there with you... you won't have to fight him alone, not ever again... I promise..."

"I know, Terra..."

He was going to thank her, but... she already knew. Terra already knew how grateful Sanza was for her kindness and love... she just hoped he knew how grateful _she _was for his understanding.

"I love you, Sanza."

Sanza's hand reached up and gently began stroking Terra's soft, golden hair... and she dug her head even deeper into his shoulder, before beginning to kiss it softly, her lips slowly going up from his shoulder to his neck... and then to his mouth, which slowly began to open as Terra's lips made contact.

As soon as the two began to kiss, Sanza knew how much he wanted Terra... and his hands slowly began to drift to the bottom of her shirt, lifting it up ever so slightly, just to see if she wanted the same thing he did... and she responded in kind, starting to pull up at the fabric of Sanza's soft, black T-shirt to remove it from his body.

The waves began rushing up faster now, coming all the way up to the outside of Sanza's jeans as the shirt was pulled from his back. Terra's shirt came off a second later, and both shirts were tossed away as the two continued kissing passionately, their arms wrapping tightly around the other's back.

"No interruptions this time..." said Terra softly, her lips pulling away from Sanza's just long enough so that she could look into his eyes. He returned her smile, then kissed her again, pulling off Terra's bra and tossing it as far away as he could, hoping that it landed somewhere near the pile of clothing that would soon be getting larger and larger.

"_Yeah... but even if there are... I don't care..." _Sanza knew that he and Terra were outside, on a public beach... and even in the dark, anyone who approached would clearly be able to see what they were doing.

He didn't care, and neither did Terra. Let people show up, let Cyborg, or Beast Boy, or Raven show up... nothing could stop them now.

And there were no interruptions... in the middle of the night, on the beach under Santa Monica Pier, Terra and Sanza made love for the first time. Neither of them even thought for a moment that it could be their last... as they were in the throes of sexual passion, the thought of Slade never once entered their minds. All they could think about was each other.


	26. The World Is Watching

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

The warmth of the soft, queen-size bed beneath Sanza as he awoke was nothing compared to the warmth of Terra's body pressing softly against his, her waist gently wrapped in his arms. He pulled her closer, gently kissing the back of her neck before sitting up at the side of the bed and letting his legs dangle off the side.

"_Last night was amazing..."_

Everything was a blur, save for those vivid moments when he and Terra had finally expressed their love in pure, physical form... their naked bodies entwined beneath the pier for nearly half an hour before the two lovers decided together to call it a night. They got dressed, returned to the hotel suite where they and the Titans were staying, curled up together in bed and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

"Mmmm... Sanza?"

Terra rolled over, her eyes opening and meeting with Sanza's as he turned his head to look at her. He smiled, and she smiled back, crawling up to her knees and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"So... last night..."

The smile on Terra's face grew even wider as she remembered what she and Sanza had done. For a few moments, she'd thought that morning might bring regret... but instead, she felt as wonderful as ever. What she and Sanza had done had been far from a mistake... it had been the most wonderful experience of both of their lives... and once Slade was defeated, she wanted to do it again.

"Last night was _awesome_," Sanza replied, leaning in and kissing Terra on the cheek. "Soooo... guess you don't mind sleeping in the same bed with me then?"

"Well, I sorta fell asleep before I had the chance to get into that bed," Terra replied, giggling slightly as she indicated the bed nearby, the one she was _supposed _to sleep in. "But yeah... I guess if we're still here tomorrow..."

Of course, neither of them wanted to still be in Los Angeles tomorrow, as today was supposed to be the day when Slade would finally be defeated... provided that Robin and Starfire's excursion brought them another clue as to his whereabouts. Last night had been fun, a wonderful escape from the task at hand... but both Sanza and Terra knew that as long as Slade was still out there, they had work to do.

But one couldn't work on an empty stomach, and as Terra's stomach began to growl, Sanza quickly got up from the bed, making his way over to the door.

"You want me to pick up some breakfast? I think they have donuts down in the lobby, or I could just bring up a little box of cereal..."

"Donuts sound great," said Terra, sliding back beneath the covers and leaning her head into the pillow.

"...breakfast in bed?" Sanza raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit of drowsiness coming on and wondering if perhaps _he _should be the one getting to eat in bed. "I dunno, donuts are awfully messy, and that's an awfully nice bed..."

"True," replied Terra, who was starting to have second thoughts about her little request.

"But, then again, that's what housekeeping's for, right?" Sanza laughed, placing his hand on the doorknob and starting to turn it. _"I guess we can BOTH lie in bed and eat donuts together... actually, that's starting to sound pretty fun."_

Sanza pushed the door open, immediately revealing Robin standing on the other side. The Boy Wonder had a serious look on his face, one that indicated that he was all business.

"Starfire and I found a lead, and we're all going to check it out."

The color drained out of Sanza's face. His jaw dropped open, and he futilely pointed into the room at Terra, who was once again sitting up in the bed.

"But... I was gonna... breakfast... haven't eaten!" Sanza's clumsy protests were doing nothing to sway Robin, who crossed his arms over his chest and indicated that the rest of his team was already ready to go.

"You can grab something from the lobby on the way out, we're leaving in two minutes," said Robin, closing the door and leaving a stunned and disappointed Sanza to give Terra the bad news. Of course, she'd overheard everything, and she'd already put her socks and shoes back on, handing Sanza his Red X suit so that he could get into it as soon as possible.

"C'mon, Sanza... you know how important this is. We're finally gonna take down Slade!"

Sanza could see the disappointment on Terra's face as well, but there was nothing either of them could do... and at any rate, this was exactly what both of them had been waiting for. As Sanza put his Red X suit on, he could only hope that Robin's detective work would lead right to Slade's doorstep... and that whatever the criminal mastermind was planning could be stopped before it was too late.

O-O-O

Seslam's tip had led the Titans to a large, single-story building just outside of the city. The Greater Los Angeles Nanotechnology Research Center, known by many to be one of the world's leading centers for nanotech research, was surrounded by a tall, chainlink fence that restricted access to the building's personnel, though once the Titans told the guard on duty who they were, they were escorted inside to the lobby, where a tall man in a white lab coat came out to greet them.

"Good morning, my name is Dr. Bradley Whittenfield, I'm the head researcher at this facility, and I'd be glad to do anything I can to help in your investigation."

The man was very cordial and professional, and there was a friendly smile on his slightly-wrinkled face as he awaited the Titans' instructions.

"I'm here to ask about a nanoteleportation device," said Robin. His words brought an instant chill to Whittenfield's expression, the man's eyes widened significantly, and it was clear that he hadn't expected to be queried about such an advanced product. "We have reason to believe that a criminal has been using one to transfer goods in and out of the city."

"Well, I... I mean, you see... there's no such thing as a nanoteleporter," Whittenfield stammered nervously, "we don't have nearly enough technology to produce such a device."

"_He's lying," _thought Raven, transferring that thought into Robin's head... but the young detective already knew that Whittenfield was being evasive, and he was almost certainly trying to hide something.

"Are you sure?" Robin continued, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure, there's no such thing as a nanoteleporter, and... actually, I think I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave, something just came up and it's not safe for you to-"

Immediately, Robin lunged forward, grabbing Whittenfield by the scruff of his lab coat and hoisting him into the air. Just as quickly, two security guards, wearing strange, gray-colored protective hazard suits that concealed their faces and bodies, thrust tazer-like apparatuses into Robin's sides. The Titan leader immediately let out a scream, collapsing to the floor and twitching violently. Starfire quickly rushed to his aid, attempting to blast the two men with Starbolts, only to have her attacks stopped by a glowing, gray barrier that appeared to shield them.

"Seize them, seize all of them!" shouted Whittenfield, stumbling back and pulling out a handheld radio from his pocket. "All guards to the lobby immediately, we have a code red emergency!"

Sirens began to blare, bright red lights began to flash... Red X knew all of those things well, and sensing trouble, he grabbed Terra by the wrist and ran with her toward one of the doors, hoping to escape the lobby before every guard in the building showed up.

"Sanza, what are you-"

"We can't let them catch us, we have to find where Slade's hiding out ourselves! Come on!"

As X and Terra disappeared, several guards burst into the lobby through another door. They surrounded Robin, whose body was still weak from the after-effects of whatever strange weapon had been used on him. They hoisted the Boy Wonder up and began to drag him away, their shields protecting them from the relentless energy attacks of Starfire and Cyborg.

"We cannot harm them!" screamed Starfire, her voice taking on an increasingly frantic tone as she saw Robin being dragged further and further away. "ROBIN!"

"Take him to my office," said Whittenfield calmly, exiting the lobby through the same door that Sanza and Terra had escaped from. "I'll deal with him there."

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!" shrieked Raven, picking up the receptionist's desk and hurling it at the guards in a desperate attempt to get them away from Robin. Unlike the energy blasts, the mysterious shield didn't stop the desk from passing through, and the guards were hit in the back. They fell over, letting Robin fall to the ground. "Their shields can't stop solid objects! Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, attack them physically!"

Beast Boy didn't have to be told twice, transforming into a tiger and lunging at two of the guards just as they started to get up. The guards were easily knocked to the ground, but one of them produced a weapon similar to the one used on Robin, and with one blast, Beast Boy was as incapacitated as Robin was, detransformed and grimacing in pain on the floor. Cyborg's luck was a little better, as he landed several punches that knocked a few of the guards down before they could go for Robin. As Cyborg was keeping the guards busy, Starfire fell to her knees at her fallen friend's side.

"Robin, are you hurt?"

"I'm not... sure..." Robin replied, twitching slightly on the ground. "I'm not in any pain anymore, but... I can't move my arms and legs... the only time I'm able to move is every few seconds or so, but it only lasts an instant, then I go back to being paralyzed again."

"I will carry you to safety," said Starfire, bending down and picking Robin up in her arms. "Come, we must hurry and-"

Starfire let out a loud scream as a powerful shock engulfed her entire body. She dropped Robin again and fell to one knee, unable to stop a group of guards from picking him up and carrying him off down the hallway. Clenching her teeth in rage, she gathered up her energy and turned toward the lobby. Her eyes began to glow, and she shot each of the remaining guards in the back with powerful eye lasers, penetrating their shields and bringing them all to the ground.

"Robin has been captured!" shouted Starfire, gesturing for the other Titans to follow her down the hallway. "We must rescue him!"

"What about X and Terra?" asked Cyborg, who looked through the door that the two had escaped through a minute earlier. "They ran off just after the fighting started, they could be anywhere!"

"They'll find their way back," said Raven, "but I think Robin's in a lot of trouble."

"We must hurry!!!" Starfire screamed anxiously. As soon as she saw that all three of her fellow Titans were on the same page, she flew down the corridor as fast as she could, desperate to catch the guards who'd taken Robin. _"Please... please be safe..."_

O-O-O

Red X and Terra had entered another area of the building entirely. They maneuvered stealthily through doors and walkways, making sure that none of the people milling about in labcoats could see them as they made their way deeper and deeper into the building.

"Sanza," Terra whispered, "when are we gonna go back to check on the others? They might be in trouble!"

"They'll be fine," X whispered back, hiding around a corner as a bespectacled female started walking their way. "Damn... Terra, I'm gonna phase into this room behind me, you duck into the room across the hall. Don't let that woman see you."

"But Sanza, wait-!" But by then, X had already disappeared through the wall, leaving the blonde geomancer alone. Nervously, she dashed across the hallway, running through the wooden door on the opposite side and closing it behind her. _"Now what do I do...?"_

The room that Terra had entered appeared to be a small research laboratory, containing several small tables with test tubes and beakers placed on top of them. There was also a computer in the room, and it appeared to be printing the results of a recent test... but before Terra could take a look, the door began to open again.

"_Oh... crud!" _Terra quickly walked over to the locker in the corner of the room, getting inside and closing the door behind her just as the same female researcher from before entered and walked over to the printer.

"Good," said the woman to herself, looking at the paper as it came out of the top of the printer. "Seems the test of the new polymer was a success..."

From inside the locker, Terra could see the researcher as she picked up the paper and began studying the data printed on it. She tried to calm herself down and control her breathing carefully, as every sound she made echoed inside of the metallic confines. Fortunately, the researcher standing outside was too engulfed in what was coming out of the printer to pay any attention to the faint noises coming from her supply locker... and after three pages had printed off, a small red light on the printer began to blink.

"_Out of paper... well, I've got plenty in my locker, I'll just go over here and get some."_

Terra's breathing quickened as the woman suddenly turned toward her locker and began walking over. She tensed up, clenching her hands into fists and pressing her body against the back of the locker, trying to figure a way out of this situation.

"_If she catches me, I'm screwed! What would Sanza do? ...I know exactly what Sanza would do, he'd probably tie her up or something, but I'm not like that, am I? I mean, I guess just this once I could-"_

But as the woman wrapped her fingers around the handle of the locker, her cell phone rang. She stepped back and pulled out the phone, putting it up to her ear.

"...are you serious? _All _the researchers? ...I know there are intruders in the building, but I've got these test results printing, and- ...yes, I understand. All right then."

Heaving a heavy sigh, she put her cell phone back into her pocket and exited the room, leaving the results for another time. Inside the locker, Terra breathed an equally heavy sigh... one of relief as she stepped out of the locker and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow.

"Glad I didn't have to go through with _that... though it might've been fun to take a walk on the bad side again... just one more time..._"

But now Terra knew she had to find Sanza, and hopefully whatever had called this room's researcher away had forced the others to vacate the premises as well. Cautiously, Terra emerged from the room... and saw the nearby hallways completely deserted.

"_Great!" _thought Terra, strolling forward and looking for the first door on the right. _"Now hopefully, Sanza hasn't moved from this-"_

Terra's thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of a door opening next to her. Before she could turn to see who it was, a gloved hand went over her mouth and pulled her into the room, pressing her up against the wall. Startled, Terra let out a quiet scream behind the hand... before instantly seeing who it was that had grabbed her. Her eyes narrowed, and the hand slid away... it was Red X.

"Sanza, I knew it was you, I wasn't gonna scream," Terra whispered, placing her hands on her hips.

"I know, I just wanted to scare you," X replied, chuckling to himself. As Terra gave the thief a playful nudge, he turned to the other side of the room, where another computer was displaying something on the screen. "Look what I found... whoever was here left so fast that they forgot to exit out of whatever they were working on, and... well, see for yourself."

Terra's eyes glanced at the screen, which was displaying some kind of timetable. Unsure as to exactly what she was seeing, she began scratching her head... and when X scrolled up, the large black letters displaying the timetable's subject just raised more questions.

"Gray goo proliferation estimates? What's this even mean?"

"Well, a few months ago, I wanted to watch television in the living room, but my mom seemed really engrossed in this science show she was watching. They were talking about nanomachines on there, and apparently, if you build a bunch of them and don't keep watch, they'll start multiplying... turning everything they touch into copies of themselves. The phenomenon's called 'gray goo'... pretty scary stuff when you consider how advanced the technology's become."

"I'll say," replied Terra, remembering something from before. "Wait, when Robin and the others found the Brain after Slade killed him, didn't they say something about him being reduced to a pile of... this gray stuff or something?"

"Gray goo, exactly," X continued. "Look at this chart here."

On the timetable were several rows, each corresponding to an available amount of nanomaterial, and several columns, listing various geographical scales.

"Let's see..." Terra read, her eyes going across one of the rows and then down one of the columns. "If one cubic centimeter of nanomaterial begins replicating, it would take... 15.7 hours to turn all of Los Angeles into gray goo?"

Now Terra was worried... considering that the scientist who made the table had obviously made it recently, she began to wonder why that scientist would have reason to do so. She realized it immediately... these people knew that Slade was working with nanotechnology, and from the way they'd attacked the Titans once they entered the building, it seemed that they might possibly be working with him.

"We've gotta find Robin and the others, _now_," said Terra, turning away from the computer and toward Red X.

"I agree," the thief replied. "Let's go!"

O-O-O

All of the building's researchers had been ordered to evacuate to a safe room deep within the building, leaving the halls empty... except for the intruders and the guards sent to stop them.

Starfire didn't care about the guards. All she cared about was getting to Robin as soon as possible, making sure that he was safe, and then finding out exactly where Slade's base was. She flew out ahead of the Titans, using her powerful eye lasers to knock out every guard she saw... her righteous fury stronger than any nanobarriers the guards could put up.

"Hey, slow down a bit, huh?" shouted Beast Boy, his body still tingling from the shock he'd received earlier. He was running down the hall in human form, unable to change into any animals since he was shocked. "Some of us can't go as fast as you!"

"Then you will be left behind!" said Starfire, turning a corner and not caring if her friends could keep up. _"Do not worry, Robin, I am coming to you!"_

"This is ridiculous," muttered Raven, picking up Beast Boy and Cyborg and lifting off into the air. She strained to carry her two teammates, and keeping up with Starfire forced her to use up even more of her energy. "Starfire, you have to wait! You're going to end up getting yourself-"

Raven let out a loud gasp, dropping her friends and floating quickly down to the floor. Cyborg landed particularly hard, falling flat on his face and giving the flesh half of his forehead a nasty bruise.

"Ow, Rae! What gives?"

But as soon as Cyborg looked up, he could see exactly what had Raven so shocked and terrified. Just a few feet away, Starfire was on her knees, her arms being held behind her back by a guard, while two more kept her trapped in an electrical containment field. Sparks of silver-colored lightning arced through and around her body, causing her to bow her head and let out quiet squeaks of pain every few seconds. The guard to her left held a glowing, silver blade to her throat.

"All of you, surrender now," said the guard, his eyes staring straight into Raven's. The half-demoness held her ground, keeping her left hand pointed at the head of the guard standing behind Starfire.

"You hurt her and I swear all three of you will suffer," Raven replied. This courageous and risky response caused Starfire to lift up her head, her eyes locking with Raven's. Her pleading and terrified expression seemed to indicate that she was begging for her life... but there was something there, something much deeper... a spark of anger, a hint of strength. _"Starfire, you don't want us to surrender, do you?"_

"_Do not worry about me. If I am captured, they will likely take me to Robin... just go, go and protect yourselves, and find out what Slade is up to!"_

Cyborg and Beast Boy stood at the ready, their fists raised, their eyes locked on the guards at Starfire's sides. Both of them seemed as ready to fight for Starfire as Raven was... and weren't going to back down for even a second. But Raven was no longer looking at Starfire... she was staring at the guards, trying to look through the protective hoods they were wearing to see their expressions... trying to find out exactly what they were thinking.

"Didn't you hear me?" shouted the guard, pressing his blade even closer to Starfire's throat. "If you don't surrender-"

"If you wanted to kill Starfire, you'd have done it already," said Raven. "You're not authorized, or even prepared to use lethal force."

"That's not true!" But even now, Raven could see that the guard's hand was trembling, and the other two were backing off slightly. "This is a highly guarded facility, we're prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to protect our-"

"You're only authorized to use deadly force when other people are using it, and you know we're not trying to kill anyone," said Raven calmly. "So either put Starfire down, or fight all three of us."

The guards said nothing for a moment, and both Beast Boy and Cyborg looked over at Raven, wondering exactly what she was trying to do. Then, the guard behind Starfire, the one who'd been holding her arms behind her back, suddenly leapt over the captive Titan and lunged at her three teammates, holding a small cannon in his hands. He fired, shooting a net at the three Titans. Raven responded immediately, focusing her energy into the net and turning it back on the guard who'd deployed it, trapping him and forcing him to the ground.

With her arms now free, Starfire concentrated as much strength as she could, ignoring the pain and pushing away the two guards who were flanking her. The guards were knocked into the wall, and their nanotech containment field faded, releasing Starfire, who stood up weakly and stumbled toward her friends.

"Thank you... Raven..." Starfire gasped, just before receiving a tight hug from Beast Boy. "And you as well..."

"Nah, Raven's the one who did everything..." Beast Boy said, letting go of Starfire and turning toward his cloaked teammate.

"Yeah, how'd you know they weren't gonna kill Starfire?" asked Cyborg, placing his hand on Raven's shoulder.

"It was difficult, but I managed to get through to the mind of one of the guards holding Starfire captive... and I was able to determine his standing orders. None of these guards are authorized to kill any intruders unless the intruders use lethal force themselves. Their job is to incapacitate, not to kill."

"...which means that Robin is not in any real danger!" gasped Starfire, a smile appearing on her face. "At least... not as much as I believed he was in... but we still must rescue him quickly!"

As the Titans stepped over the unconscious guards and made their way deeper into the building, the conversation continued.

"It also means that these people likely aren't working for Slade... because if they were, they obviously would've killed Starfire as soon as they got the chance," Raven said.

"I dunno, Slade had a chance to kill us before and all he did was take us prisoner," Cyborg replied. "What makes you so sure-"

"I'm not," said Raven. "That's why I said _likely_."

Regardless of Raven's choice of words, the fact remained that Robin was still a prisoner... and whether his life was in danger or not, the Titans needed to find him quickly... or their quest to discover what Slade was up to would be derailed for good.

O-O-O

By the time Robin's paralysis wore off, it didn't matter... he was secured tightly to a metal chair, his arms locked around the rests next to him, while his legs were chained below, to the front legs of the chair. He struggled, but the bonds held tight... and he was kept immobile until the door opened, and Whittenfield stepped into the room.

"What are you planning?" shouted Robin immediately, thrashing in his chair as the researcher walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down across from him. The chair that Robin was secured to was facing him, so Robin was easily able to shift his few back to Whittenfield. "Are you working for Slade?"

"...I didn't want the public finding out about any of this," replied Whittenfield, regret clearly audible in his voice. "Dr. Seslam is my best friend... when I found out that he'd been compromised, I knew it would only be a matter of time before-"

"Before WHAT?!" Robin shouted, tugging even more at his bonds. "What's Slade planning?"

"If you'd let me finish, I could tell you!" Whittenfield snapped. He leaned back into his chair and looked up at the ceiling... obviously, it was paining him to continue. "When you and your friends came in here and started talking about top-secret technology, I knew immediately that the only way you could've found out is if you'd seen Slade using it. And if you know about it, then the government knows as well, right?"

Robin started to reply, but Whittenfield continued, his voice beginning to break as he spoke.

"If the government knew our technology had gotten into the wrong hands, they... they'd cut our funding!"

"This isn't about funding!" shouted Robin. "People's lives are at stake!"

"Nanotechnology... is the key to so many wonderful advances... think about it. Tiny robots patrolling the bloodstream, destroying anything that's not supposed to be there. It would be the end of all disease! Cancer, AIDS, malaria, all of it wiped out in an instant! Body armor that can protect a soldier from any weapon... and in the event of failure, repair his body immediately afterward! Shields over cities, blocking nuclear missiles, or asteroids... it's the great miracle of our age! And all of that work would be ruined if people knew that our technology is now in the hands of a madman..."

"The only people who know about it are me and my friends, and we can stop Slade before he does anything. We can save this city... and you can keep doing your research."

Clearly, Robin was getting frustrated with this whole situation... and as angry as he was about Whittenfield's selfish insistence on keeping the whole debacle under wraps, all he wanted to do right now was to stop Slade from turning nanotechnology against the world.

He was running out of time.

"All I need you to do is to tell me how I can find out where Slade teleported his weapons to," said Robin. "There's a secret base, probably somewhere in the city... Dr. Seslam told me that someone here could find out where it is."

Whittenfield looked at Robin for a few moments, then stood up, mulling over his options. Obviously, if Robin and the Titans had notified the government about all of this, there was no containing it now. His institute would lose its funding, and all of his research would be ended and probably destroyed.

But if he helped the Titans track down Slade, then maybe... maybe there was a way to undo the damage that had already been done. The only way he stood to lose is if Robin was lying... if he hadn't notified the government yet, and if he would do so upon being released... but if his goal was to notify the government, then why had he come to the research lab?

"_He's got to be telling the truth... all right then..."_

Whittenfield sat back down and pressed a button underneath the desk. The bonds holding Robin's arms to the chair were released, and the Titan leader was able to cut the chains off of his legs himself. He stood up, rubbing his wrists for a moment before turning to Whittenfield and giving him an appreciative look.

"Thanks," Robin muttered, even though he had no real reason to be thanking Whittenfield for releasing him from a situation he never should've been placed in in the first place. "So how do I find out where Slade's teleporter was programmed to send things to?"

"Well, you see-"

The door to the office opened, revealing Starfire and the others standing in the doorway. Upon seeing Robin safe and sound, the Tamaranian let out a squeal and ran over to him, but was waved off before she could give Robin a hug.

"Later, Starfire..." said Robin, causing Starfire to give a disappointed frown as Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg entered the room after her. "I was just about to find out how to locate Slade."

Robin turned to Whittenfield, who was once again deep in thought.

"I'm not... exactly sure, I mean... Seslam told me about some kind of encrypted file that he'd placed, some kind of tracker that could be accessed from a terminal in the building."

"That's what he told us," Robin replied. Starfire confirmed this with a nod. "When we were at his house, he told us that while he couldn't determine Slade's exact whereabouts, he used a back door in one of the nanotech programs to place a tracer on all of Slade's activities."

"Unfortunately, he did not have authorization to access that tracer... he said that only one person in the building had access to the computer with the tracer program," Starfire continued. "I would assume that because you are the leader here, you are the one with that access."

"Well, I am, but... he embedded it really deep in there, and... I don't have the computer expertise to open that file, nobody here does," said Whittenfield. "We're nanotechnologists, not computer hackers... I mean, can any of you hack into a computer and-"

Robin, Raven, and Cyborg all immediately raised their hands. Beast Boy slumped his shoulders, slightly ashamed at his lack of computer know-how.

"Oh... okay then, well, just follow me," said Whittenfield, briefly returning to his own computer and typing in a few commands before leading the Titans out of the room. As they were leaving, Robin remembered that the group was still separated from X and Terra... and he took out his communicator to contact them.

"I should probably let Terra know where we are," said Robin, opening his communicator and tuning it to Terra's channel. "If she's still with X-"

"That's all right, I called off all the guards except the ones in front of the safe room, so your friends should be able to find their way back to us pretty easily... if you still want to call them, that's fine."

"...I'll do it later," said Robin, clipping his communicator back onto his utility belt. _"I just hope Red X isn't causing too much trouble... and that he doesn't decide to take one of these nanomachines home as a souvenir."_

O-O-O

But Red X wasn't out souvenir-hunting... instead, he and Terra were approaching a large set of double doors flanked by two intimidating guards. The two of them hid around a corner as they pondered their next move.

"Okay... there's _gotta _be some reason those guys are guarding that room so closely," Terra whispered. "You think it's the one all the researchers are hiding in?"

"Could be," X replied, "or it _could _be where the most sensitive technology in the building is. After a year of breaking into places, I've learned that the most valuable stuff is always the stuff that's guarded the closest."

As X crouched down and appeared as if he was about to make a break for it, Terra grabbed him by the wrist, admonishing him to be careful.

"Hey, I've handled guys _way _tougher than these before. Don't worry, just cover me, okay?"

And with that, X broke free of Terra and rushed forward, raising his hands and firing out two Xs before the guards could react. The Xs transformed into metal bands that wrapped around the guards' necks and embedded themselves into the wall, pinning the two men in place as X went for the door. The guards' arms were still free, and they raised their weapons to fire.

"Look out!" shouted Terra, using her powers to raise two pillars of concrete up from the floor, pinning the guards between the pillars and the wall and rendering them completely immobile. _"That's a tight squeeze, but they oughta be okay..."_

Red X kicked in the double doors, and was instantly greeted by dozens of researchers in white lab coats, recoiling in terror. The room was completely empty, save for some snacks and drinks that had been passed around... Terra was right, Red X had just broken into the safe room.

"...my bad," X said softly, looking around at the nervous researchers. Terra walked up next to him, rolling her eyes when she saw what X had done.

"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt any of you..." Terra said, trying to reassure the scientists as best she could. "We're just looking for-"

"Your friends are with Dr. Whittenfield," said one of the researchers, a young Indian man in his mid-20s. "We were not sent here because of you, there is another intruder elsewhere in the building, and we thought that you might have been him."

"...another intruder?" X said curiously. "I thought we were the only ones who-"

"Someone came in after you," the researcher continued.

"Who?" asked Terra.

O-O-O

Whittenfield led the Titans to a metallic door at the end of the hallway. After swiping his keycard, the door opened, revealing a small room with a single computer terminal inside. After squeezing into the room with the Titans, Whittenfield sat down at the computer and pulled up the files that contained the data from Seslam's tracking device. The files were password protected, and beyond that, triply-firewalled.

"Well, this is it," said Whittenfield, getting up from the computer to allow one of the Titans to have a shot at cracking the encryption. "As you can see, he's got these files behind quite a barrier..."

"Probably to keep Slade from knowing he was being tracked..." said Robin. "If Slade found out, Seslam's daughter would've probably been killed."

Raven and Cyborg looked at one another, trying to determine which amongst them would take the first shot at cracking the multiple barriers that Seslam had placed around the files. Finally, they came to a decision, and Cyborg sat down at the computer, plugging some wiring from his body into the hard drive before getting to work.

"Yep, there's three firewalls here... somebody did _not _want people getting into these files," said Cyborg. He was easily able to crack the password and get through the first two firewalls, but the third was giving him trouble, even after running every single back door program in his system. "Okay, hitting a road block here... there's some really weird code, not like anything I've seen before..."

"Now it's my turn," said Raven, sliding Cyborg out of the chair so that she could get to work. After a minute or two of trying, she was unable to break into the files. "Damn..."

Not used to hearing Raven swear, even quietly, Robin became worried... something was clearly giving the blue-cloaked genius trouble. Maybe a glitch in the system? Whatever it was, it was becoming clear that getting into Seslam's tracking file was going to be more difficult than the Titans thought.

Finally, Raven got up, and Robin sat down to try his hand at breaking into the files. As he was doing this, Starfire could see the look of sadness and worry on Whittenfield's face, and tried as best as she could to find out what was wrong.

"You said that Seslam was your best friend... how long have you two known each other?"

"Twenty-five years... I was his professor in college, as soon as he got his doctorate, I invited him to work for me," said Whittenfield. "I was there at his wedding... I never had children of my own, but his daughter is like a grandchild to me... which is why I feel so terrible for both of them... that girl, Julie, she was held for three days... I think they might've tortured her to get Ian to give them what they wanted."

"Slade is a monster..." Robin muttered under his breath, his eyes focused on the screen as he worked to break into Seslam's file. "He'll stop at nothing... I swear I'll make him pay."

"I just... I just want you to stop all of this... you have to stop Slade, I'm worried about Ian, I think he might kill himself... his wife's already dead, I could take care of Julie, but-"

"It's best not to think about any of those things," said Raven. "You can't focus on the worst-case scenario."

"Yeah, man, be positive!" Cyborg chimed in. "We'll kick Slade's butt, and then you guys can go back to your research."

"I'm in," said Robin, "and I'm downloading the files now."

Robin had finally cracked through the firewall, and instead of looking and sorting through all of Seslam's files at the terminal, he was downloading them to a disk so that he could go back and peruse them at the hotel. It took only a few seconds for the files to download, and as soon as the download was complete, Robin pulled out the disk, holding it in his hand and smiling.

"All right, team, now we can go-"

The celebration was immediately cut short when a large, metallic blade pierced through the wall to Robin's right. It barely missed the Boy Wonder's head, continuing straight forward... and right into Whittenfield's throat. Blood spurted from the wound, and the elderly researcher was killed immediately, his lifeless body slumping against the wall. The Titans gasped in horror, and in the moment that they were distracted, a hand snatched the disk from Robin. The Titans turned in the direction from where the hand had come, and there, they saw a human figure phasing through the wall... it was Construct.

"Too bad about the old man, I was aiming for YOUR head, Robin..." Construct laughed, holding the disk in his hand. "I'd destroy this thing, but there's a piece of valuable information on here that Slade needs, so... I'd better be high-tailing it back to him. See you losers later!"

Construct phased back into the wall before any of the Titans could attack him. Quickly, Raven knelt down and placed her fingers on Whittenfield's throat, trying desperately to heal his wound... but he was already too far gone.

"...I should've been able to stop it, I was right there-"

"I am saddened as well, Raven... but now we must catch Construct!" Starfire helped her friend to her feet before following Robin and the others out of the room. There was no time to grieve over Whittenfield's body... but before they could even begin the chase, Robin ran headlong into Red X, and both of them took a tumble, landing in a heap in the middle of the hallway.

"...Robin... I have... to tell you something..." groaned Red X, standing up at the same time as Robin. "There's another intruder in the building, it's that guy we saw at Slade's-"

"We know," said all of the Titans in unison. Nearby, Terra blinked... where was Construct now?

"_Let me guess..." _thought Terra, _"another chase."_

And without even so much as an explanation, Robin ran for the exit, followed by the other Titans, Terra, and Red X.

"_Even if we don't get the disk back," _thought Robin, _"if we can follow him, he might lead us right to Slade's base himself!"_

O-O-O

Out in the parking lot, the Titans could see Construct waving at them tauntingly. He held up the disk and beckoned the Titans to follow him.

"You'd better hurry, I could've been long gone by now, but I think this way is a lot more fun."

With that, Construct took off into the skies, using a pair of silver nanowings that had formed on his back. Almost immediately, Red X manifested his own wings and took off after Construct, leaving Robin completely bewildered.

"...what the... how did he...?" Robin looked over at Terra, who offered up a smile and a shrug. "When was he gonna tell me that he had wings?"

"Whenever he got time to tell you," said Cyborg, who already knew, along with Raven and Beast Boy, that Red X was able to fly.

"Everyone's just been so busy..." commented Raven. Robin let out a groan, slumping his shoulders as Starfire wrapped her arms around his waist.

"_I didn't even design the suit for that... I guess Sanza really _has _improved from all that training... I just hope it's enough to help us take down Slade." _

As Starfire lifted Robin up into the skies, followed closely by Raven and Cyborg, and then Terra and Beast Boy, Red X led the way, keeping his eyes focused on Construct the entire time. The nanoreplicant flew out over the Los Angeles suburbs, and as X and the Titans continued their aerial chase, people down below looked up into the skies to see the convoy of superbeings over their heads.

"_If this guy wanted attention, I think he's got it..." _Red X thought, picking up speed to try and catch Construct as he flew out toward the Hollywood Hills. _"This IS kind of fun..."_

But Robin wasn't having any fun at all as he soared above the landscape, held tightly in Starfire's arms. He looked to his left and saw Terra and Beast Boy floating together on a rock... though Beast Boy had gotten his transformation abilities back, he was still a bit too tired to keep up with the rest of the group, but Terra's geomancy was more than capable of carrying both Beast Boy and herself at high speed through the sky. To Robin's right, Cyborg and Raven were keeping up quite well... and soon, all the Titans had caught up to Red X, who was continuing to gain on Construct as the large white letters of the Hollywood sign began looming in the distance.

"_There's my battlefield," _thought Construct, smiling as he began to slow down, flying just over the roof of one of the area's multi-million dollar homes. The shockwave from his body blasted dozens of shingles from the roof, sending them flying in Red X's direction. Letting out a scream, the thief dodged to the side, watching as the shingles flew off harmlessly and plummeted to the ground.

"_Okay, maybe this isn't so fun... but why's he slowing down?"_

Finally, Construct reached the sign, flying through the leftmost 'O' and doing a perfect loop, hovering a few feet above the top of the letter. Seeing that Construct had come to a stop, X and the Titans did as well.

"I suppose I should give you all a sporting chance, so..." Construct pocketed the disk and extended his arms, beckoning the Titans to come at him. He floated down onto the top of the 'O', his feet balancing on its narrow, wooden edge. "I'm standing right here, take your best shot!"

"Does he think we're not going to take a shot at him because of the sign?" asked Terra, scratching her head.

"Uh, _duh_!" shouted Beast Boy. "Dude, it's the HOLLYWOOD SIGN! It's an icon, we can't damage the Hollywood-"

In unison, Red X and Starfire took their best shots, X using explosive projectiles, and Starfire using her Starbolts. Construct leapt out of the way, somersaulting backward and hovering in the air as the projectiles flew past him and impacted just behind and above the 'O'. The combined blast through up an enormous explosion, sending dust and dirt everywhere... but leaving the fabled Hollywood sign intact, though its second letter now sported a light brown coating of earthen matter.

"What are you guys doing?!" shouted Beast Boy. "Be careful!"

"Beast Boy, the sign is not important," said Raven, flying over to the hill just under where the sign was perched and setting Cyborg down. As soon as his feet touched solid ground, Cyborg ran up the hill, firing blasts from his energy cannon at the hovering Construct. Construct extended his palm, blocking the blasts against a nanobarrier before unleashing a torrent of electricity at his mechanical foe. Cyborg switched up his weapons, meeting the nanotech-generated lightning with a few bolts of his own.

"Just got a bolt-thrower installed last week, and I haven't had the chance to use it... until NOW!" Cyborg increased the voltage, pushing Construct's electricity back into him. The nanoreplicant let out a scream, slamming into the back of the large, wooden 'H' and bouncing back onto the grassy hill. As he was sliding down, a Bird-a-rang landed just to the left of his shoulder... and when he was able to stand, he looked up to see Robin standing on top of the sign, smiling down at him.

"And I've just been waiting to do _this_," said Robin, extending his bo staff and leaping down at Construct, who quickly formed a metal blade to parry the blow. The two retracted their weapons, exchanging punches and kicks behind the sign, their fight temporarily concealed from view.

Nearby, Red X and Terra hovered in front of the sign, waiting for Construct to emerge so that they'd have a chance to strike.

"I'd go after him now, but Robin's back there!" Terra shouted, a look of worry on her face. "I hope he's okay..."

"I'll go check," said X, flying through the sign's rightmost 'O' and emerging behind it, where the fight between Robin and Construct was still raging. Construct landed a powerful punch that threatened to knock Robin right off the hill, but at the last moment, the Boy Wonder fired his cable, looping it around the second 'L' and swinging around to kick Construct hard in the face. _"Heh, looks like he's doing just fine..."_

Letting out a cry of anger, Construct hit Robin with a brief blast of electricity, stunning him long enough to land a hit directly to the center of Robin's chest. The cable holding him to the sign snapped, and he let out a scream as he fell back violently, bouncing several times along the ground before managing to stop himself halfway down the hill. As he climbed up, Construct stood on the bottom of the sign's second 'L', taunting him.

"The second you get back up here, I'll be waiting," said Construct, laughing as he extended a blade from each of his wrists, blades formed out of the nanites that comprised his body. "And I'll carve you up like a turkey!"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath Construct's feet. Hovering on a rock nearby, Terra faced the replicant down, her eyes aglow. Construct let out a gasp, but before he could attack, the ground beneath him gave way as the earth ripped asunder, taking not only Construct, but the sign's third, fourth, and fifth letters with him. The wooden supports holding the letters up snapped to pieces, and they, along with a massive pile of rock and dirt, battered Construct as he fell beneath the parted ground.

Briefly horrified at the destruction that Terra had caused to an American icon, Beast Boy couldn't help but chuckle to himself at what the sign now read.

"Heheh... it says... 'HO WOOD'... heheheheh..." Beast Boy's giggles received a stern rebuke from Raven, who pointed at the massive gash in the middle of the sign. There, Construct still hovered, angrily staring down the Titans, his body covered in dirt. "Oh... right... the battle..."

Beast Boy transformed into a falcon, flying toward Construct with incredible speed. Construct tried to shoot him down with lightning, but Beast Boy deftly dodged the attacks, swooping by Construct and pecking him hard in the side of the face.

"Agh! You damned annoying little bastard, I'll get-" Construct couldn't focus on Beast Boy for long, because soon, Robin was upon him, punching him several times before he was able to recover and kick the Titan leader away. _"This isn't going very well... I need to try something new."_

Construct leapt back, putting himself behind the sign again and raising his arms into the air. He began channeling energy through his body, focusing it through the nanites in his skin and forcing all of that power into his fingertips. He could see Red X, Raven, and Cyborg coming toward him up the hill, and knew that the others couldn't be close behind. Smiling, he released the energy, firing it in the form of hundreds of small, silver beams. Red X and Raven quickly shielded themselves, but Cyborg had no such protection. He found himself battered heavily, falling back down the hill and letting out a scream. The tiny beams of energy soon took their toll on the sign below, and the 'D' quickly found itself snapped in half, its wooden supports destroyed by the relentless assault. Before any more of the sign was destroyed, Construct was forced to aim his beams upward to prevent Starfire from diving down at him.

Battered by the beams, Starfire kept firing away, her Starbolts slamming into Construct and the area around him. The two blasted each other for a while before Starfire finally fell, and Construct was forced to let up on his assault, stumbling back and wincing in pain.

"_Gotta give the nanites time to heal my burns... I probably shouldn't have kept that up, but at least that's the last I'll see of that bitch for a while..." _thought Construct, looking up to see Terra flying toward him from above, and Robin coming at him from below. _"And now to take care of these two!"_

Letting out a scream, Construct released a powerful shockwave from his body, battering Robin and knocking Terra off the boulder that she was floating on. As she fell to the ground below, Red X raced to catch her... and managed to do so just in time.

"Hey... you scared me there," said the thief, gently setting Terra down on the ground.

"Now we're even," she replied, smiling warmly at him.

At the top of the hill, Construct could see Raven flying his way... and flew down to beat her to the punch, quite literally. He slammed his fist into the side of her face, sending her body flying into the top of the second letter of the sign, ripping a large chunk out of the top of the 'O' before Raven brought herself to a stop.

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!" Raven screamed, using her telekinesis to rip the 'H' from the ground and send it flying Construct's way. He smiled and floated up, allowing the large letter to sail harmlessly beneath him, embedding itself into the hill. He then floated back down, standing on it and watching as Raven flew at him again.

"You're a persistent one," said Construct, leaping back to allow Raven to land a few feet away from him. As soon as she did, the replicant charged her, taking her by surprise and causing him to turn slightly away. He grabbed her right wrist, wrenching her arm hard behind her back and causing her to let out a scream. "_That's _right, now you're mine."

"Raven!" Nearby, Beast Boy could see what was happening, and quickly rushed to Raven's aid, transforming into a tyrannosaurus and swiping his tail hard at Construct's head. Still holding Raven, Construct leapt away, and Beast Boy's tail continued forward, smashing what was left of the 'H' in the Hollywood sign. He stalked toward Construct, who now held Raven in a tight deathgrip, wrenching her arm back while placing a blade at her throat.

"Hold it, dino boy, one more step and I carve up your girlfriend..."

"I'm not his..." Raven shook her head. "I'm not your hostage!"

Raven elbowed Construct hard in the face, knocking him away from her. She turned around and hit him in the chest with an enormous blast of dark energy, sending him flying through the air. He came to a stop a short distance away, looking up into the sky and beginning to laugh. Wondering what was so funny, Raven and Beast Boy looked skyward... and could see dozens of helicopters hovering over their heads. The other Titans, along with Red X, looked up in awe at the sight, which included reporters almost hanging out the doors of the choppers, holding their news cameras in hand as they competed for the best shot.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a surprise... we're on NATIONAL TELEVISION!" shouted Construct, laughing loudly.

"Breaking news this afternoon, as we're here live at the world-famous Hollywood sign," shouted one female reporter, "where a fight between the Teen Titans and a mysterious supervillain has destroyed the legendary landmark!"

"Hey!" shouted Beast Boy after detransforming. "It's not totally destroyed... you can still see 'WOO'... heheheh... woo... heh..."

Noticing the helicopters flying at such close proximity, Robin quickly felt a pang of dread go through his body, and his fellow Titans felt it as well. With so many people so close, it would be incredibly easy to hurt an innocent civilian by accident... but as long as Construct still held the disk containing the whereabouts of Slade, he knew the team couldn't stop now.

"We have to stop Construct before someone gets hurt!" Robin shouted. "Titans, go!"

But Construct saw in the helicopters an opportunity to keep his opponents distracted... and he took that opportunity quickly, firing up at the news crews the exact multiple-beam attack he'd used to attack the Titans earlier. Immediately, Raven interposed herself between the helicopters and the beams, putting up a large energy shield to protect the choppers.

"_I don't know how long I can hold this..." _thought Raven, straining with everything she had to keep up the shield. As sweat rolled down her face, a particularly daring news crew hovered over to her, its reporter sticking a microphone out the chopper door and right below Raven's mouth.

"Can you tell us who it is you're fighting, or perhaps what it's like to be a Teen Titan?" shouted the reporter, completely undeterred by the intense battle raging just a few feet away.

Completely fed up, Raven did the only thing she could... she sent out a tiny electrical surge, overwhelming the circuits of every microphone and news camera in the vicinity. While the choppers stayed airborne, every news crew suddenly found itself completely unable to transmit... and though Raven was straining too much on the outside to show it, on the inside, she was smiling from ear to ear.

Construct kept up his assault, knowing that he'd be able to wear down Raven's shields in just a matter of moments... but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Red X swooping toward him, wrist blades extended. He turned his attention toward the thief and extended two blades of his own, meeting him in the air, the blades sending out dozens of sparks as they clashed at high speed.

"You are getting on my _last nerve_, kid," said Construct, staring straight into Red X's eyes.

"Same to you, _kid_," X replied, swinging his blades furiously at Construct's head. The replicant parried the attack and stabbed forward again, a blow that grazed X's shoulder, giving him a small cut. X elbowed Construct in the face and swung at him again, a swipe that Construct dodged by leaning his head back. The replicant then lunged forward, headbutting X in the face, which stunned him long enough for Construct to stab right at X's stomach.

A huge cloud of dirt from the nearby hill swept over Construct's body, knocking him away from Red X and battering him relentlessly with tiny chunks of hardened rock. He looked up to see Terra floating above him on a boulder, and when he looked forward again, X's fist slammed right into his face.

"I told you I'd always be there, didn't I?" Terra shouted, smiling down at X from her boulder. The thief nodded and gave her a thumbs-up, then spun around and kicked Construct in the back, sending him flying back toward the hill. Robin, who was standing on top of the letter 'W', waited until the replicant was nearby, then took a flying leap, lunging toward Construct, who was beginning to slow down as he approached the side of the hill.

The two collided in midair, Robin wrapping his arms tightly around Construct and falling with him to the ground. Construct tried to flip his body so that Robin would take the brunt of the landing, but the Boy Wonder would have none of it, keeping Construct pinned below his body. When the two hit, the force of the impact separated them, and both began rolling down the hill.

"Robin!" screamed Starfire, hovering nearby and watching as her boyfriend tumbled with Construct down the hill. Though his body was being battered and bruised, Robin managed to roll himself toward Construct, landing several punches on him as the two continued down the hill. A news helicopter that had just arrived, and thus had operational cameras, filmed the replicant and the Titan leader as they continued rolling down the hill, fighting one another the entire way down.

"_I _really _hope that disk isn't getting broken by all of this," _thought Robin, who continued to relentlessly assault Construct despite the beating that his own body was taking. Finally, the two began to slow down, coming to a stop near the bottom of the hill. The exhausted Construct, his nanites lacking the energy to heal him entirely, was helpless to resist as Robin reached down and pulled the disk from his pocket. _"Well, what do you know... it's completely intact."_

But Construct wasn't, and as he rose from the ground, blood was dripping from his face, chest, arms, and legs... blood, like the rest of Construct's body, comprised of millions and millions of tiny nanites.

"It looks like you're leaking," Robin noted, his arms across his chest.

"Very funny," laughed Construct, watching as Red X and the other five Titans came down from above to join Robin. "But I'm not beaten, and neither is Slade... even if you do find him... you'll be destroyed..."

Construct then raised up his hand, and Robin, thinking that he was about to launch an attack, lunged forward to stop him. Instead, Construct released a blinding, noxious gas, a gas that sifted out over all of the Titans, preventing them from seeing the replicant as he flew off into the distance, making a hasty escape. As the helicopters attempted to follow him, he descended back toward the ground, landing quickly and dashing off into the wilderness.

Once the gas faded, the Titans were left to wonder exactly where Construct had gone... but because of their victory, they had their answer. Robin held in his hands the disk that hopefully would lead them back to Slade's lair... and this time, there would be no retreating.

"We are victorious!" Starfire declared, wrapping her arms around Robin, then carefully inspecting his wounds. "And you are... damaged..."

"I'm fine," replied Robin, who was smiling even though Construct had gotten away. "We got exactly what we came for... and now we can finally go back and take on Slade!"

But soon, reporters swarmed the Titans from all directions... all of the Titans save for one. Terra, who had slipped out along with Red X, was now flying with him back toward downtown Los Angeles... they were already halfway to the hotel.

"Now we can catch up on all that sleep we missed," said X, smiling as he flew back toward the hotel with Terra in his arms. "Or at least we can get those donuts."

"Yeah... I think we've totally earned them," Terra replied, letting out a giggle. _"Thank goodness that fight's over... and now there's only one thing left to do... Slade... you're finally about to get what you've had coming to you."_

O-O-O

It had been an interesting morning for Yancey Aylesworth, who'd watched the entire battle unfold live on his television... all except for the short blackout that Raven's powers had caused. He was watching from the safety and comfort of a nondescript, ordinary-looking house a few miles from the city, a house out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by tall grass and a few palm trees.

It was a safehouse he'd purchased completely off the books, so Slade would have no way to track him down... and now, as he watched the Titans take questions from the myriad of reporters who'd come to watch the battle, he turned off the set, chuckling to himself as he leaned back into his easy chair and stared up at the ceiling.

"Deathstroke, what hath you wrought in the fair city of Los Angeles?" Aylesworth said rather snidely to himself, laughing as he spoke. "All this destruction, just to kill little old me? Somebody's got a grudge."

"Yes, somebody does."

To Aylesworth's shock and horror, he was now staring straight into the face of Slade, looking down at him from behind his chair. He leapt to his feet, turning around and backing toward his television screen, his entire body trembling as Slade walked around the chair and began coming toward him.

"How... the... fuck... did... you... find... me?!"

"Simple. I had my replicant Construct hide in your car and follow you back here the day you left. He was riding in your trunk the entire time... but I instructed him not to let you know, as I wanted to have the pleasure of killing you myself."

Aylesworth was now backed against his television, breathing heavily even as Slade continued to come his way. Sweat was pouring down his face, his gun was upstairs... _stupid, stupid, stupid! _was pounding through the terrified man's head.

"There's gotta be... some way we can work this out..."

"No, there isn't."

In desperation, Aylesworth lunged at Slade, battering his chest with a series of powerful punches. The blows would've caved in the chest cavity of a normal man, but Slade stood his ground, not even flinching as his midsection took a vicious beating. Finally, annoyed with the whole situation, he reached up and grabbed Aylesworth's wrist, squeezing and breaking the bones in an instant. As the man let out a painful scream, Slade struck him in the shoulder, breaking it with a single chop.

"Are we quite through?" asked Slade, looking down at Aylesworth as he writhed on the ground in pain. He looked up at Slade, then swept his leg into the mastermind's ankle. This move was unexpected, and it knocked Slade off his feet. As soon as Slade fell, Aylesworth got up and ran over to a nearby lamp, grabbing it and shattering the bottom of it to pieces, creating a jagged edge that made the lamp a sharp, dangerous weapon.

"Get the hell out of my house, you bastard!" Despite having a broken right wrist and a shattered left shoulder, Aylesworth kept a firm grip on the broken lamp, backing toward the front door of his house as Slade got up and began walking toward him again. "You come at me and I'll cut you open!"

Aylesworth was now backed against the door, and holding the shattered glass lamp in one hand, he began turning the doorknob with the other, keeping his eyes on Slade the whole time. Finally, the door began to open, and Aylesworth stepped forward, letting out a sigh of relief as he opened it up just a crack...

And then, Slade charged. He barreled toward Aylesworth with all the finesse of a linebacker, and though the man tried to gore Slade with the broken lamp, it was quickly swatted away. At instant later, Slade slammed into Aylesworth with the force of a truck, shattering his spine, crushing his ribs, and instantly rendering him unconscious. The man's broken body slumped against the door, which had been severely dented from the force that it had just been subjected to.

"...that's too bad, I didn't want to start hurting you until _after _I got you back to my base," said Slade, picking up the badly-injured Aylesworth and hoisting him over his shoulder. "I'm sure the nanites can repair some of your bones... so that I can have more nanites crumble them inside of your body once you awaken."

O-O-O

Delayed by multiple news interviews, lunch, and an unusally cryptic program, Robin was still working to discover Slade's whereabouts as the sun began to set outside the Titans' hotel room.

From what Red X and Terra had told him upon his return, he knew he had to work fast... the information they'd gathered seemed to indicate that Slade planned to do a lot more than just kill Yancey Aylesworth.

"But I don't know... I mean, he's _Slade_, but isn't turning all of Los Angeles into gray goo just a little bit too much?" asked Cyborg, leaning against the wall as Robin furiously worked on Seslam's program. "Never mind... all the times he's tried to destroy our city, I definitely wouldn't put it past him to try and take this one out."

"Not only that," said Raven, sitting at the foot of a nearby bed, "but the threat against Los Angeles might be more than just Slade trying to cause wanton destruction. Maybe he's trying to distract us."

"True," replied Cyborg. "With us worried about the city, that leaves Slade free to get revenge on Aylesworth..."

"Yeah... Aylesworth's a jerk," blurted Beast Boy. "If it's a choice between him and LA..."

"We're saving them both," Robin said. "Aylesworth might be a despicable human being, but we're still heroes, and it's our duty to protect everyone, no matter what."

Red X and Terra emerged from their part of the suite, laughing amongst themselves.

"What are you two so happy about?" asked Cyborg, smiling over at them.

"We just rented a movie," Red X replied. The Titans' eyes went wide, and even Robin looked up from his computer. X and Terra looked at one another, and then started laughing again.

"No, not _that _kind of movie..." Terra giggled. "_Wicked Scary 2_. Sanza was so scared, he kept trying to hide it, but I knew he was about to wet his pants..."

"DUDE! _Wicked Scary 2 _is out on video?" shouted Beast Boy excitedly. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"You wouldn't get to watch it now anyway," said Robin. "I was finally able to isolate the teleportation tracker... in a few seconds, we'll know exactly where Slade's base is."

The Titans huddled anxiously around the screen, awaiting the results of the trace program. Finally, the program finished, and displayed the location of Slade's base as a small, blinking red dot on a map of the city. When Robin switched the map to satellite mode, they were able to see exactly where Slade's base was...

"Two hundred feet below the surface... a massive, hollowed-out space right beneath the foundation of... Library Tower!" Robin's eyes went wide as he watched the satellite picture zoom out, revealing that Slade had somehow constructed his base beneath the tallest, most famous landmark in the city.

"But... how would he be able to build a base under there without anyone knowing?" asked Cyborg.

"Nanomachines... nanomachines carved out the whole thing, probably in just a few minutes," said Raven, staring at the screen while still unable to believe exactly what she was seeing. "We need to call and have them evacuate the tower."

"I'm calling right now," said Robin, walking over to the phone and dialing the number for the city's emergency services center. As he was doing so, he could feel the ground beginning to shake beneath his feet... as the shaking intensified, he dropped the phone. "...is that an earthquake?"

Terra rushed over to the window. There, approaching the downtown area of the city, she saw a massive beast... a driving rain obscured its body, but a flash of lightning soon revealed its exact identity.

It was Omega Ternion.

"Guys, we've got HUGE trouble!" shouted Terra, turning away from the window. As soon as she had turned, Beast Boy and Cyborg ran over to see for themselves... and they saw something that filled them with dread. More huge beasts approaching the city, identical to the one Terra had seen... there were two... three... five... ten...

Fifty massive Omega Ternions, each one as fierce as the others, each one capable of smashing the city to pieces... Slade didn't need nanomachines. He'd unleashed an army of destruction.

"...Terra, you know a few seconds ago when you said that Sanza almost peed his pants watching _Wicked Scary 2_?" Beast Boy turned away from the window, trembling violently. "Well, uh... I just... kinda... sorta... did."

"Way to be mature," Raven replied, standing over by Robin and the computer. "Robin, is there a better way to handle the situation besides the way Beast Boy just did?"

"Yeah, there is," said Robin, turning to face his team. "We fight. We fight with everything we have, and we don't stop fighting until Slade and his monsters are defeated."

Easier said than done.


	27. The Beginning Of The End

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

By the time the Titans made it out of the hotel, the streets were filled with thousands of panicked people, all of them trying to evacuate the city before the army of Omega Ternions crushed them all. Despite the rain and lightning, dozens of helicopters were flying overhead, each of them getting a bird's eye view of the massive monsters as they made their final approach.

"We must stop them, before they destroy all of these buildings!" shouted Starfire. "There must still be people in them!"

"I agree, but... this can't be Slade's plan, there's got to be something else..." Robin was as concerned about the group of Ternions as any of his teammates, but there was still the matter of the nanomachines... Slade was planning an apocalypse for Los Angeles, the Titan leader knew that for sure. "This is just a distraction!"

"Pretty big distraction if you ask me," said Cyborg. "We can't wait very long, they'll be reaching downtown any second!"

"Cyborg's right, we have to stop Ternion first... then we can worry about Slade!" Raven was already preparing to go into battle, her hands lit up with dark energy as she floated into the air.

After a few seconds of intense thought, Robin made his decision. It was a decision he absolutely hated, but it was the best one he could make under the circumstances. Someone obviously had to deal with the Omega Ternions, who were seconds away from smashing through Los Angeles' downtown skyline. However, Robin knew that the huge monsters were merely a distraction, covering for Slade's true plan... which he knew was far, far more diabolical.

"Starfire... you take the others and go stop those things, any way you can," said Robin, who then turned to Red X and Terra. "Sanza... I know you want to stop Slade..."

"You're damn right I do," X replied, clenching his fists. He looked over at Terra, whose expression was equally determined... and she gave him a quick nod. "And so does Terra."

"You'll both be coming with be to Library Tower. Terra, you can get us below the surface to Slade's lair, right?"

"Right," the geomancer replied, nodding again.

While Robin was giving instructions, Starfire's expression grew deeply worried... not for herself, but for Robin, whom she didn't want to be separated from, even for a second. The fact that the two were about to begin the biggest battle of their lives just made Starfire even more anxious... and as soon as Robin turned back to her, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Please... be careful..."

"Starfire, I... I know you're going to be all right... don't worry about me, just-"

Starfire couldn't take it anymore, and without another word, she pulled Robin close, kissing him deeply on the lips as the rain intensified and began soaking both of their bodies. Raven anxiously watched, shifting her view between the kissing couple and the wave of Omega Ternions continuing to make their approach. Finally, unable to wait another moment, Raven took off into the sky, grabbing Cyborg on her way up.

"But... that was really-"

"We've got a job to do," Raven replied, annoyed by Cyborg's request to watch the end of Robin and Starfire's kiss. "You can see them make out as much as you want once we get back to the Tower."

Beast Boy's goodbye was equally quick, and after hugging Terra and warning her to be careful, he transformed into a pterodactyl, flying off with Raven and Cyborg to stop the Ternions. A few seconds later, Starfire parted from Robin, taking off into the skies to join her friends. Robin turned back to X and Terra, and both of them could see the worry etched on his face.

"Lemme guess, kid... you feel like you're throwing her to the lions, right?" X asked, trying to sound as calm and as casual as possible in an attempt to reassure the Titan leader. "Don't worry about her. She's one tough babe, and she can-"

Terra's elbow slammed hard into X's ribs, immediately jolting him out of his conversation. He looked over at Terra, who was giving him an annoyed glare... and reminding him that it was _her _he loved now, not Starfire.

"_He's right, though... Starfire is tough... the toughest girl I know... and if there's anyone who can beat fifty of those monsters, it's her... be safe, Starfire." _

With that thought echoing in his head, Robin broke off into a run, making his way down the street past thousands of fleeing Los Angelinos. He was followed by Red X and Terra, who were hoping the same thing that Robin was... that Starfire and the others could stop the army of Omega Ternions that had just invaded the city.

The three of them had more than enough to worry about.

O-O-O

As the last of the people poured out of Library Tower, Robin, Red X, and Terra entered the now deserted lobby, walking out to the center of the room and looking straight down. All of them were thinking the same thing.

"_Slade is somewhere down there..." _Robin's eyes narrowed, and he took a fighting stance, withdrawing his bo staff. _"And we're going to stop him."_

"Robin, Sanza, both of you step back..." said Terra, extending her arms out from her body. "I'm going to make a hole in the floor... I just hope everyone's cleared out of the parking garage..."

"Awesome," replied Red X, backing over toward the wall with Robin. "Wanton destruction for a good cause. This oughta be fun to watch."

As soon as X and Robin had cleared out, Terra went to work. Immediately, a large crack appeared beneath the floor as the concrete structure below gave way. The crack expanded, and soon became a circular chasm, opening up into the parking garage below. Terra focused even more of her powers, and soon, the floor of each level of the parking garage opened up as well, forming holes similar to the one Terra had made at the surface. Several floors later, the ground itself gave way, and a tunnel was soon dug leading straight down, several hundred feet, right to Slade's base.

Deep below, Slade could feel the earth tremble... and he knew _exactly _who was coming for him.

"There we go, said Terra, standing at the edge of the chasm between Robin and Red X. "All we gotta do is float down, and we should be in the middle of Slade's base."

"I don't know what we'll find when we get down there," said Robin. "We might be surrounded... it might be a trap."

"Probably, but we've still gotta do this," Red X quickly replied. "Slade has to pay for everything he's done... everyone he's hurt..."

X flashed a quick look over at Terra, who placed her hand gently on his shoulder, silently letting him know that she was all right... and that she was ready to battle Slade. She levitated a small chunk of ground into the center of the chasm, forming a makeshift elevator that she, X, and Robin rode all the way to the bottom.

O-O-O

Aylesworth came to in a small, well-lit room with bright orange walls... but the first thing that he noticed when he woke up was pain... intense pain shooting down from his arms, which seemed to be affixed to something above his head, down through his shoulders and midsection, all the way to his legs below... and then back up again.

The pain was unbearable, and he let out a loud scream... a scream that quickly got the attention of Slade, who'd been standing in the corner, waiting for his captive to awaken. As soon as Slade began to walk over, a terrible feeling of fear went through Aylesworth's body, compounding the pain that he was feeling and causing him to scream again. His arms and legs were pinned, but not by ropes or chains... they were melded to the metallic pole behind him, his very flesh fusing with the steel and keeping him locked permanently in place. When he realized this, he screamed again... much to Slade's satisfaction.

"Yes, nanotechnology certainly is amazing... able to transform just about anything... including organic material. You're a part of this building now, and you'll never move from that spot again."

"No... no!" Aylesworth began to struggle, but it was totally useless... his hands and feet had disappeared into the pole, his arms and legs were exposed, but still connected to it where his extremities used to be... he was a horrific amalgam of flesh and metal, with all the pain that came with it... it felt as if every inch of his body was being stabbed with a needle. "You can't... you can't do this to me!"

"You'll never move again, and I suppose that's about as horrifying for you as it was for my son when he found out he would never speak again. Actions have consequences."

Slade looked down at the ground, where a squirming, silvery mass was beginning to crawl up onto the pole and onto Aylesworth's body. It began to divide and scatter, billions of individual nanomachines slowly making their way up, millions of them burrowing into Aylesworth's flesh.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Those nanomachines will crawl through your body for an hour, keeping you alive while at the same time subjecting you to horrors unimaginable. They will twist and contort your muscles and bones, you will suffer more than any human being has ever suffered before... and once they are done with you, they will continue on to the rest of the city. Before the end of the night, Los Angeles will be turned into dust."

Slade's voice was incredibly calm as he spoke, unemotional as he described everything that Aylesworth would suffer... and the entire time, his victim was beginning to sob, already feeling another surge of pain as the machines began to work inside of his body. He pleaded for mercy, but Slade ignored him, turning away and walking toward the door.

Aylesworth was alone and helpless within the deepest part of Slade's lair... and as the machines continued to burrow their way into him, his screams echoed throughout the building.

O-O-O

The fifty Omega Ternions plowed their way into downtown Los Angeles, trampling cars and small buildings wherever they went, their massive feet making enormous dents in the pavement below. One of them looked up into the sky, where a helicopter was hovering overhead. With one mighty blast of lightning, fueled by Overload's components, Omega Ternion blasted the helicopter out of the sky... it plummeted to the ground below, its occupants screaming for their lives as they fell hundreds of feet to the ground.

Just moments before their flaming chopper would've been smashed to pieces on the concrete, Starfire swooped in and grabbed it, rescuing the terrified reporters and setting them gently on the street.

"Good job, Starfire!" shouted Cyborg, congratulating his teammate as Raven set him down on the roof of a nearby skyscraper. "Hey... what gives?"

"Carrying you all over the place is going to wear me out," replied Raven, flying up to confront one of the Ternions herself. "See if you can get Beast Boy to give you a lift."

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Cyborg immediately got to work, firing his plasma cannon at the nearest of the giant beasts. It let out a loud roar, turning around and taking a powerful swing at the building where Cyborg was standing. It knocked off a portion of the roof, but Cyborg leapt back and kept firing, shooting his cannon at the same time that dozens of missiles were being deployed from his chest, creating a massive explosion that completely engulfed the upper half of the gigantic monster.

"BOOYAH!" shouted Cyborg, pumping his fists as another painful roar emerged from within the smoke. "Cyborg one, giant monster-"

Another of the Omega Ternions spewed a river of sludge onto the roof of the building, completely coating its top five floors and burying Cyborg within. It then continued onward, not waiting for the swamped Titan to re-emerge. Nearby, Beast Boy saw what had just happened to his friend. He transformed into an eagle and swooped down in an attempt to retrieve Cyborg from the muck.

This left Raven alone to face down what appeared to be the leader of the pack... and as she gathered up her powers, the massive Omega Ternion opened up its mouth to let out another earth-shattering scream.

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!!" Putting all of the strength she had into one massive energy beam, Raven directed the giant blast straight into the center of the shockwave that Omega Ternion's roar had just created. The two huge energy forces pushed each other back and forth, and Raven's body strained under the force of what she was holding back. She let out a scream, pushing her energy beam even further forward, even as recently-repaired windows once again started to shatter around her. The glass from the windows coalesced around Raven and the oversized beast she was facing, forming a vortex of shards that reflected the glow from the lightning that streaked through the sky.

"C'mon, Cyborg, I know you're still alive in there!" Beast Boy had reverted to his human form in order to dig Cyborg from the sludge... but as he worked, he could see the fierce struggle that Raven was having to push back the sonic wave from one of the Ternions... and his attention was immediately diverted. "Whoa..."

"_Raven needs my assistance!" _Flying through the torrent of glass, Starfire raced to her friend's aid, ignoring the minor cuts that she received as her eyes began to glow. She locked onto Raven's opponent, the most massive Ternion of all of them. It was nearly twenty feet taller than its brethren, who were continuing to ignore the Titans as they marched toward the heart of the city. "Raven! Do not worry, I will help you fight!"

Starfire began bombarding Omega Ternion with eye lasers and Starbolts, which did little to stop its all-pervading roar. Despite Raven doing everything she could to keep back the sonic wave, the sound was deafening as Starfire approached, and she could only imagine how Raven felt at the center of it all.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were now swooping in as well, the latter still cleaning sludge out of his ears as he was carried into the battle in the talons of a green eagle.

"You could've come for me sooner, ya know... do you have any idea how foul it smelled in there?" shouted Cyborg, who then realized that Beast Boy was currently unable to respond at the moment. "We'll talk about this later, right now, Raven needs our help!"

Beast Boy agreed, and he flew around behind Omega Ternion in such a way that Cyborg could blast him with numerous shots from his energy cannon. The blasts seemed to be as ineffective as Starfire's attacks, but despite that, Cyborg kept trying, throwing everything he had at Omega Ternion as Raven continued to strain against its mighty roar.

Finally, there was a mighty explosion. The roar from Omega Ternion instantly stopped, and the huge beast stumbled back... while Raven was thrown violently away, nearly twenty feet before being able to stop herself. As thousands of shards of glass rained down to the street below, the other Titans immediately flew to check on their embattled friend... whose cloak was now in tatters, and who had numerous small cuts all over her body. She was breathing heavily, and as the Titans flew over, she was wiping a trickle of blood from the side of her lip. Unable to speak in his current form, Beast Boy tried doing the only thing that he knew to do... he tried transmitting a thought into Raven's head.

"_Raven! Are you okay?"_

"_Beast Boy, I'm fine..." _Raven thought back, before speaking to Cyborg and Starfire directly. "I was able to detect some of Ternion's thoughts... the other Omega Ternions are clones, created from the nanomachines that Slade's using."

"What about Omega Ternion?" asked Cyborg. "The last one of these giant things that we fought was a robot... remember?"

"Yes, Omega Cinderblock... it tried to destroy us with its primary weapon," said Starfire, "but I was able to-"

"Omega Ternion is entirely organic, it's been enhanced by the nanomachines as well... they're inside of it, sending signals to the others," said Raven, trying to relay the information to her friends as quickly as she could... before the massive beast recovered and began attacking again. "Which means that if one of us can get inside its body and destroy the nanomachines..."

"All the other Ternions will be destroyed as well!" shouted Starfire, her face lighting up with joy. "Wonderful! We will be able to prevent the destruction of the city, and perhaps return to Robin in time to help him battle Slade!"

"There's a problem," said Cyborg, pointing over at Omega Ternion. "Which one of us is going to go inside of-"

"I will," Raven said, "while the rest of you distract the others so they can't destroy too much of the city."

"_But... Raven!!" _Beast Boy immediately wanted to protest, but was still unable to due to his transformation. He tried transmitting his thoughts to her, but when she ignored him, he immediately realized that she was blocking him out. _"Come on, Rae... I can go in there, I'm small, I'll find it easily..."_

Even as an eagle, Beast Boy's concern was clearly showing... and Raven knew it was there. But he would be unable to change her mind... this is something Raven knew she had to do. Without another word, she parted from her friends and flew toward Omega Ternion's mouth, her tattered cloak ripping off her body as she made her approach. It sailed through the air, soaked by the pouring rain as it blew back and began to fall. Letting out a loud squawk, Beast Boy reached out and grabbed the cloak in his talons... causing Cyborg to be released from his grasp.

"BEAST BOY!!!" Cyborg only fell for a second before Starfire scooped him out of the air, hovering up next to Beast Boy as he clutched Raven's cloak tightly. As soon as Cyborg was at Beast Boy's level, he began yelling at him. "You almost let me fall, what were you thinking?"

"We must not argue, we have a job to do!" shouted Starfire. She pointed at the forty-nine Omega Ternion clones that were wreaking havoc in the city streets, knocking over buildings and trampling cars beneath them. "We must distract them until Raven is successful!"

Beast Boy looked back at the lead Omega Ternion one last time. Its mouth was open wide, and Raven was flying straight into it. Still tightly clutching her cloak, he looked away and followed his friends toward the main crowd, hoping that his friend would be safe... and wishing desperately that he could help her.

"_Be careful, Raven..."_

O-O-O

Robin and his two companions descended into an empty hallway... dirt and small rocks littered the floor from where Terra had tunneled in, the rest of the material having been cleared out and pushed aside into the parking garage above. There were no guards... no Sladebots... and no sign of Slade.

"Thought we'd be tunneling right into a war zone," X noted, looking back and forth down the hallway to make sure no one was coming.

"Be on your guard, this could be a trap," Robin replied, keeping his bo staff at the ready. "Come on, let's hurry up and try to find Slade."

The corridors were familiar to all three intruders, recognizing some of them immediately from when they'd visited the previous day. Of course, during their quick escape from Construct and his horde of Sladebots, they'd been given very little time to explore the base, so soon, much of the terrain started to appear new.

It was Terra who first heard Aylesworth's loud, painful screams... though they were very faint, they were immediately recognizable.

"Someone's screaming... it sounds like they're being tortured..." said Terra quietly, swallowing a lump in her throat. A chill went down her spine, and she began to shiver... the screams immediately reminded her of Sanza's battle with Slade, as Sanza had screamed in similar fashion during the most intense part of the fight... and she didn't want to have to see anyone suffering like that again. "Come on, we've gotta go help them!"

Red X agreed, and the two peeled off down the hallway, followed by a slightly hesitant Robin, who again believed that the screams might merely be a trick to lure them into some kind of trap... and this time, he was actually partially right.

As the three continued to run, the screams gradually became louder and louder... but as soon as X and Terra turned a corner, they came face to face with nearly a dozen upgraded Sladebots, each of them pointing a gun right in the two stunned heroes' faces.

"Uh... maybe we should go the other way," Terra said nervously.

"No," X replied, pointing his palms outward at the Sladebots. "Not this time..."

All of the Sladebots fired their weapons at once, shooting out several blasts of energy that X easily blocked by raising a Xynothium shield. As soon as the blasts ceased, the thief charged forward, leaping into the crowd and aiming a powerful, downward kick right at one of the Sladebots' heads. The kick was easily blocked as the Sladebot grabbed X by the ankle and flung him back, but X landed on his feet and threw out a punch, putting his fist through the chest of another Sladebot. Now completely surrounded, the thief grabbed the incapacitated bot and swung it around like a club, using it to knock down all of the other Sladebots before tossing the broken one away and plunging one of his blades into a downed Sladebot's throat.

By now, Robin had made it around the corner, and as the ten remaining Sladebots were starting to stand, the Titan leader leapt into the fray, decapitating two of the Sladebots with a single swing of his staff. Encouraged by the display, Terra quickly got into the act, sending a large pillar of concrete through several walls of the base and using it to smash three more of the bots, leaving only five left standing, some of them badly damaged by the combined attacks.

"Upgrades? Are you kidding me?" X said, laughing as he blew another Sladebot to pieces with an explosive projectile. "This is almost too easy..."

As X and Robin stood back to back in the middle of the hallway, the final four Sladebots surrounded them, their guns aimed at the two fighters' heads. As Terra tried to lift up the concrete pillar to use it in another attack, one of the bots broke formation and leapt at her, pinning her to the ground and knocking her out of her concentration. She let out a scream, struggling beneath the Sladebot and kicking it repeatedly in the chest, but to no avail.

"Terra!" X immediately turned away from Robin, distracted by his girlfriend's plight. He rushed toward her, only to have one of the Sladebot's arms slam hard against his chest, knocking him onto his back. Robin quickly leapt into the air, trying to deal with the remaining two Sladebots by kicking them over... but instead, they ducked under his kicks and grabbed him by the arms, holding him in place.

Now that all three of the Titans were trapped, the Sladebot on top of Terra began pummeling her repeatedly, its fists battering her face and making several small bruises. Terra let out a cry of pain, continuing to struggle to get out from underneath the Sladebot. She managed to break up the pillar she'd brought in and levitated a piece of it over to her, trying to use it to batter the Sladebot into submission. Even as its frame was repeatedly assaulted by the hard chunk of rock, the bot continued pummeling Terra, and soon, the geomancer found herself fading out of consciousness.

"_No... TERRA!!" _X himself was also pinned beneath one of the Sladebots, but seeing Terra in danger, he gathered up his strength and landed a punch right to the bot's face, shattering its metallic head and knocking its deactivated body to the side. He then extended a large Xynothium chain from his hand, the chain attached to a hook that latched onto the neck of the Sladebot assaulting Terra. X pulled the chain with such force that the bot's head was yanked off, and its attack immediately ceased, leaving Terra a bit shaken but mostly all right.

"Thanks," Terra gasped, rubbing her bruised forehead as X came over to check on her. "But Robin still needs our-"

A loud scream was heard from Robin as he broke free of the two Sladebots holding him, and quickly withdrew something from his utility belt that he placed onto their backs. He rolled away, and just in front of him, a large explosion filled the hall, sending Sladebot components everywhere and forcing X and Terra to avert their eyes. When the smoke cleared, Robin was unharmed, and the final two Sladebots had been destroyed, leaving the group alone in the hallway. Before they could celebrate, they heard another loud scream off in the distance... and Robin quickly got both his companions back on task.

"Come on!" Robin shouted, gesturing for X and Terra to follow him down the hallway again. "We've gotta find out where that screaming is coming from!"

As the group ran, Robin withdrew his communicator... his brief battle with the Sladebots had reminded him of his friends, likely having a lot more trouble with the army of Ternions above than he'd had with the small group of Sladebots. He contacted Starfire, and as soon as he called, he could see her face on the screen, her green eyes aglow.

"Starfire! How are you and the others doing?"

O-O-O

The call came in just as Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy had caught up with the group of Omega Ternions and were doing everything they could to stall their advance. While Cyborg blasted away from the roof of a building just a couple of blocks away from Library Tower, and Beast Boy transformed into a hummingbird and swooped back and forth between the enormous monsters, Starfire was holding her communicator with one hand and firing dozens of Starbolts with the other.

"We are holding them back... Raven has found a way to defeat all of them, but it requires her to go into the leader and destroy it from within."

"Wait... what?"

"Raven is within one of the-"

Starfire was interrupted by a massive chunk of one of the buildings falling down toward her. She put the communicator away and caught the giant projectile in her arms, holding it up until she could keep it from falling on her head, then tossing it to the ground below. A massive electrical burst was fired directly at her, and she had to fly out of the way, hurling several Starbolts before swooping down to grab a car, and then hurling it into one of the Omega Ternion clone's massive eyes.

Finally, she was able to stave off the attacks long enough to take her communicator out again... when she saw Robin's face, he looked extremely worried.

"I apologize, I was attacked and I had to-"

"It's okay, Starfire... I can see you're busy, just... be careful, all right?"

"I know, Robin... I promise I will..."

Nearby, hummingbird Beast Boy was flitting back and forth, easily dodging rivers of sludge that another of the huge Ternions was spewing at him. Cyborg continued to blast away, his missiles and sonic attacks shearing off some of the sludge from the Ternion clone's head.

"Hey, at least we've got their attention now, right?" shouted Cyborg, whose building was now surrounded by three of the enormous Omega Ternions, who were roaring loudly and using their fists to knock off parts of the upper floors. "But I could still use some help!"

Starfire was now having trouble of her own, weaving in and out of the paths of two Omega Ternions, both of them spewing sludge and firing off large bolts of electricity that were as powerful as the lightning still streaking through the sky. She flew into one of the upper floors of the building across the street from Cyborg's, only to have a gargantuan stone arm follow her inside, smashing through windows, desks, and chairs in pursuit of the Tamaranian.

"You will not... catch me... in here!" screamed Starfire, just before being knocked down by a single swat from Omega Ternion's hand. She skidded across the floor and came to a stop beside an overturned desk, where the thick stone hand quickly enclosed around her body before she could get up. _"Oh no...!!!"_

"Starfire!" Beast Boy had landed just inside the building, transforming back into a human just as Starfire was caught in Ternion's grasp. For several seconds, there was nothing but silence as the huge fingers squeezed tighter and tighter, and Beast Boy knew that there was nothing he could do to save her. "Oh no, Starfire's getting crushed...!"

Suddenly, bright flashes of light could be seen coming out from between Ternion's fingers. Its fingers began to part, and its grip loosened... until a bright green flash could be seen, and a screaming Starfire burst out, her strength shattering the rocky hand to pieces.

"YES!" Beast Boy cheered, looking across the room to see Starfire smiling at him. The two had little time to celebrate, however, as Omega Ternion's hand began to reform, even as it withdrew its arm from the building. "Come on, we've gotta help Cyborg... I think he's in trouble!"

Starfire nodded, and the two quickly flew outside. Across the street, the building that Cyborg was standing on continued to take a beating, and its upper floors seemed poised to collapse. Letting out a loud yell, Cyborg ran toward the roof's edge and leapt out, landing on the arm of one of the Omega Ternions and blasting it repeatedly in the shoulder with shots from his plasma cannon. The mighty beast fell back, letting out a roar and trying to shake Cyborg off.

"I don't think so, big guy..." said Cyborg, smiling as he pointed down. His mechanical feet were imbedded in the sludge that comprised the monster's entire left arm. "I'm not going anywhere."

More blasts from Cyborg's cannon sheared off even more of the huge beast's chimeran flesh, and as it let out another roar, its fellow clones turned their attacks in Cyborg's direction, swinging their fists his way. As Cyborg leapt off into a lower floor of the building where he'd recently been standing, the two Ternions pummeled their fellow monster instead, beating him into a pulp in only a few moments.

Even over the thunder and the Omega Ternions' roars, Cyborg's "BOOYAH!" could clearly be heard.

O-O-O

While her friends were battling the horde of giant Ternions, Raven was inside the heart of the beast... the original Omega Ternion that Slade had used to clone all of the others. Somewhere inside this massive monster was the nanomachines that had enabled it to grow to such a prodigious size... and once those nanomachines were taken out, the other Ternions would fall as well.

Inside Omega Ternion, Raven was almost completely surrounded with sludge... she used an energy barrier to keep it at bay, but the atrocious stench still permeated through, burning her nostrils and distracting her from her goal. She'd never been in such a disgusting environment in all of her life... even Beast Boy's room paled in comparison.

"_Just find the nanomachine source and get out..." _thought Raven, using her spherical barrier to push through the muck as she made her way through Omega Ternion's cavernous insides. She sent out a psychic signal in an attempt to locate the nanomachines, likely placed somewhere near the original bodies of the three beasts that comprised Omega Ternion... the only response she received back was a faint heartbeat, but that gave her enough information to know where she was going. As she had entered Omega Ternion through its mouth, she was most likely somewhere near its throat... and the nanomachine core, or at least the heartbeat indicating its presence, was located at the center of Ternion's massive chest cavity. _"Just a little ways down..."_

But Raven couldn't just phase through the floor, as the sludge comprising the beast's body was lined with electrical charges transmitted from the Overload component of its form. Any attempt to pass through the walls, however soft they were, would get her shocked. Instead, she continued down the narrow, sloping path, wincing as large blobs of Plasmus sludge fell onto the top of her barrier from the 'ceiling' above.

As Raven was walking, she thought of her friends... unable to hear or even to sense their battles, she could only hope that they were doing well... and that they were safe. She thought of Beast Boy, whose eyes were full of fear as he watched her enter Omega Ternion's body.

"_Why in the world does he care about me? He has no reason to, I ignore him most of the time and he thinks I'm creepy... yet still, he apparently has feelings for me... he might even love me..."_

It was an intensely strange feeling for Raven, who'd only been loved by one other person before... her mother Arella, who had died when Raven was only a child, and who communed with her now only with the aid of intense meditation. But this, of course, was a different kind of love... a romantic kind of love, the same love that Robin and Starfire had for one another... and of course, Sanza and Terra.

Raven continued to walk down the path, drawing closer and closer to the center of Omega Ternion's body. She was snapped out of her thoughts by something squirming against her leg... it was a tendril of sludge, formed into a tentacle-like shape and now tightly wrapping around Raven's right ankle. Raven quickly blasted it with a small burst of magic, causing it to withdraw into the floor from which it came.

"_I have to remember that I'm inside a living, breathing being..." _thought Raven, _"a being whose survival is jeopardized by my presence. I need to be careful."_

Raven continued to descend down the path, while still thinking of Beast Boy's recent advances toward her... it seemed that as soon as Terra had hooked up with Sanza, Raven was fair game for the changeling, and it wasn't something that she appreciated, as she hadn't once indicated that she wanted any kind of romantic relationship with anyone. The closest she'd ever come had been with Malchior... and that had ended absolutely horribly.

"_And yet... after Malchior was defeated, the first person who came to me was... but that was so soon after Terra, and I'd been helping him with his feelings after that, so maybe that's the reason he gravitated to me. But then again, that might be the reason he started to fall for me... who am I kidding, he was flirting with me from the moment we met! And I laughed at his joke! All of this is my fault entirely."_

Raven's shield began to expand... her thoughts about Beast Boy were causing her feelings to once again divert from the task at hand, and a torrent of emotions were swelling within her mind. She began chanting calmly to herself to clear her thoughts, and soon, with an empty and focused mind, she had arrived at the center of Omega Ternion.

There, standing in the middle of an enormous chamber hollowed out in the sludge, was a sleeping Cinderblock. In Cinderblock's arms was a slumbering man... Raven quickly recognized him as the person whom Plasmus typically originated from.

"_Wait a minute... if he's sleeping, then... how can Plasmus be active?" _

Hovering above both of them was a small computer chip... it was Overload, once again in his docile state. Upon closer inspection, Raven could see hundreds of small, glowing plastic tubes connected to all three lifeforms... tiny flashes of light, which were in reality small clumps consisting of millions of nanomachines were siphoning the life force out of the three, converting that energy into a chain reaction that formed Omega Ternion and provided enough excess energy to power dozens of clones.

"Perfect efficiency... Slade's found the secret to maximizing the power of an individual lifeform..." Raven approached the three slumbering beings, marveling at the technical genius of Slade's creation. "But with all that power... Slade could conquer the entire world..."

Distracted by the technological display placed before her, Raven didn't notice that several large tentacles were snaking their way up behind her, each of them poised to strike at a different limb, each of them poised to capture Raven within their grasp.

"_I've gotta destroy all of this, my friends might not have much time left!"_

But just as Raven began to charge a blast that would sever the connection between Cinderblock, Plasmus, Overload, and the nanomachines, the tentacles struck first, each of them wrapping tightly around Raven. Her wrists, her ankles, her waist, and her chest were held fast, her body almost instantly immobilized by their crushing force.

"What the...!! No, let me go!" Raven screamed and thrashed, but it was too late... she was completely trapped. Still, she was just a few yards away from her target, and with a single, well-timed blast, she could be victorious... "Azarath, metreon-"

One final long tendril of sludge emerged from above, filling Raven's mouth and silencing her immediately.

O-O-O

Aylesworth's screams continued to intensify as Robin, X, and Terra made their way through Slade's base. They encountered a few Sladebots along the way, but despite their upgrades, they were easily defeated... and Robin noticed a marked improvement in Red X's skills, even during the brief battles.

"So... I guess the True Master's training really helped you out, huh?" Robin asked as the group continued running down the hall.

"Of course it did... I just wish I could've saved her from Slade," X replied. "But I'll avenge her..."

"I cared about her too, Sanza," said Robin, his voice taking on a reassuring tone. "Don't feel guilty about what happened..."

"I already talked to him about it," Terra said, "and we both agree that the best way to honor the True Master's memory is to take out Slade."

More screaming... Robin was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, as were X and Terra.

"I know who that is that's screaming," Terra said suddenly, stopping in the middle of the hallway. "It's Aylesworth... it's the guy we were trying to protect!"

X and Robin stopped as well, and listened to another loud scream... Terra's suspicions seemed to be immediately confirmed, as they both recognized the voice, despite its gutteral, mangled quality.

"He's the guy we were trying to protect... how did Slade get to-"

"Because he didn't listen," said Robin, replying to X quickly so that the group could continue making their way to the trapped hostage who was now in the next hallway over. "He thought he could protect himself from Slade, but..."

"But he couldn't... just like I couldn't protect myself... or Terra..." X let out a long, heavy sigh, trying to hold back the growing fear that was building within him. He turned to Terra, who had her arms pulled in close to her body, and who looked extremely uncomfortable. "Robin, could you... give us a moment...?"

Obviously, Robin didn't want to stop, especially not when there was a hostage suffering a short distance away.

"Whatever issues you two have, you can work them out later, right now we have to-"

"Robin, _please_!" X removed his mask, and was now standing before Robin as Sanza... his eyes were clearly displaying a very frightened look, and he appeared as if he was trying to keep himself from breaking down in tears. "Just go on... we'll follow you... all right?"

"_Dammit... I knew I should've brought someone like Raven along..." _Robin let out a sigh, while trying to understand exactly what Sanza and Terra must be going through. _"Who am I kidding, if Slade had done to me and Starfire what he probably did to Sanza and Terra... hearing Aylesworth screaming must be bringing back some awful memories... I know they're scared, but don't they realize that we've got a job to do?"_

Finally, Robin relented, nodding his consent and making his way down the hall. Immediately, Sanza walked back over to Terra, placing a hand on the side of her face and gently stroking back her hair.

"Are you gonna be all right...?" asked Sanza, trying to show as much strength as he could as he reassured Terra.

"I'm more worried about you," Terra replied, nodding her head. "We've got to help that guy... as bad as he is, nobody deserves to suffer like that... especially not if Slade's the one torturing him..."

Everything Sanza and Terra had been through together, everything they'd worked for and trained for had all led up to this. As scared as they both were of facing Slade, the terrible villain who'd tried to ruin both of their lives, who haunted their nightmares and who even now had the capability to make both of them suffer horribly, the two of them both knew that the only way they'd be able to end their nightmares for good would be to defeat him once and for all.

And then, out of the corner of his eye, Sanza saw someone... someone fleeing down the hallway behind Terra. He appeared only for a moment before once again disappearing, but Sanza immediately knew exactly who he was.

"Terra... I just saw Slade... he's trying to escape-"

"What?!"

"I just saw Slade, I'm gonna go after him," said Sanza, starting to put his mask back on.

"Wait! You can't!"

Terra grabbed Sanza by the wrist, desperately trying to hold him back.

"Remember our promise? I told you I'd always be there... the next time you fought Slade, I wanted to be at your side..."

"Terra... you need to stay with Robin and make sure nothing happens to him... I'll be fine, this is something I have to do alone..."

As frightened as Sanza had been just moments ago, seeing Slade once more, even for a split-second, filled him with rage... and with all that rage coursing through him, he knew that this might be his best chance... but this time, he wanted Terra to stay completely out of it. If anyone could keep her safe, it was Robin... and as long as Slade was distracted above, Terra would be well out of range below.

"Please... stay here with Robin..."

"Sanza... we promised..." Terra's lip was beginning to tremble, and Sanza could see tears forming in her eyes... he didn't want to leave her, but at the same time, he knew he had to keep Slade away... the thought of seeing Terra at his mercy was almost unbearable. "I... I... I love you..."

"I love you, that's why I have to beat Slade... I'm going to make him pay for everything he's done to you... don't worry, I swear, I won't lose!"

And with that, Sanza was gone. He pulled the mask back over his face, then turned the corner, disappearing completely from Terra's view. She bowed her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and then considered following Sanza... remembering her promise to him, and how much he'd been hurt in his previous battle...

"_If something happens... I'll never forgive myself... but... Sanza wants me to believe in him... he wants me to have confidence, he wants me to know that he can beat Slade by himself... he needs to do this... and I need to trust that he can."_

Putting her doubts aside, Terra turned back, running in the direction that Robin had gone, and in the direction of Aylesworth's loudest scream.

O-O-O

When Robin entered the room where Aylesworth was being kept, the first thing he noticed was the hideous, contorted figure of the once proud man, now painfully displayed in the center of the room. His body had merged almost completely into the orange support column, his limbs twisted hideously around it, his stomach and chest both swelled to three times their normal size as nanites ravaged his organs, ripping them to pieces and then repairing the damage just before their victim bled to death. The nanites flowed in the form of a viscous, silver liquid in and out of small openings in Aylesworth's body, and every few seconds, the man would issue forth another hideous scream as something within him was ruptured.

"My god..." Robin recoiled at the horror of it all... in all his years of fighting crime, he'd never seen something as horrible as this. Even the Joker's victims hadn't been tortured in this fashion... it was repulsive, and it made the crime fighter want to vomit. "I'm getting you out of this... I-"

"HELP ME NOW!" Aylesworth screamed. "I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT!"

Robin rushed forward to cut the man free, but... there was nothing to cut, as his body had been fused completely to the pole behind him, his flesh morphed until it was impossible to tell where Aylesworth ended and the metal began. There was nothing Robin could do, and it tore him up inside, even though he knew how horrible of a man Aylesworth really was.

"_No one deserves this... I don't care what this guy did in the past... Slade is going to pay for-"_

A loud gasp from the doorway brought Robin's attention to Terra... who was standing in the entrance of the room, seeing exactly what Aylesworth was being forced to endure. She ran to him immediately, her entire body trembling... then she let out a scream as some of the nanomaterial began oozing up to her. She stepped quickly back, but then saw that the nanites were merely coming around to attack Aylesworth from another direction, not to try and kill her.

"They're programmed to... to torture him..."

"More than that..." Aylesworth gasped, hoping that maybe if he assisted the two Titans, they would be able to return the favor and end his misery. "They... they're going to kill me, and then... attack the city...!"

Another horrific scream as Aylesworth's body was jerked violently forward from the pole, his bones cracking in numerous places. He was snapped immediately back, the nanites repairing his bones so that they could break him again.

"Robin..." said Terra quietly, her trembling finger pointing to a computer terminal nearby. "This might... this might be what Slade's using to control them..."

Robin ran over to the terminal, and was immediately able to bring up a program that apparently had something to do with the nanites. He entered a few commands, and the large, blinking red light above the terminal turned green. He looked back at Aylesworth, hoping that the nanites had been deactivated... but they were moving as furiously as ever, and Aylesworth screamed loudly again.

"_But... if this is the terminal that controls the nanites, then...?" _Upon further inspection, Robin was able to determine that the program he'd just deactivated had been one in a series of five... five de-activation programs, each located on a different terminal. _"If I can somehow deactivate all of them, the nanites will cease to function... this is great!"_

Unfortunately, the program was much more complex than Robin had anticipated. In order to de-activate the nanites, four more terminals needed to be deactivated. Three were located at various spots in the tower above, while the last one was apparently with Construct. _"Damn... I hope the others are finished with Omega Ternion... I don't think Terra and I can reach all the terminals... and where the hell is Sanza?"_

O-O-O

Starfire slammed hard into the concrete exterior of one of Los Angeles' tallest skyscrapers, sending dust and debris flying outward from the Tamaranian-shaped hole in the building's facade. Nearby, Cyborg ran down the street, firing several blasts upward at the legs of an Omega Ternion clone... before being hit by an enormous burst of electricity, which caused him to fall face-first to the ground, groaning in pain.

Beast Boy's latest transformation into a tiger enabled him to run quickly up the arms of one of the massive beasts, going all the way up onto the top of its head and taking several powerful swipes at its skin. Each time, sludge from nearby quickly oozed in to fill the wound, and soon, Beast Boy himself found that he was being pulled in. A few seconds after disappearing into Omega Ternion's head, he found himself being shot out of its mouth, flying outward at such force that he was sent clear through a building and out the other side, smacking hard into the side of a parking garage before falling to the street below.

Detransformed, Beast Boy lay face down, staring up at the sky as lightning streaked overhead and heavy droplets of rain battered his aching body. He and his friends had put up a valiant fight, and had delayed, at least for a few minutes, the destruction of downtown Los Angeles by more than four dozen Omega Ternions. But he, Starfire, and Cyborg could only do so much... Ternion by itself had pushed the Teen Titans to the limit, and its Omega form was already too powerful for the team to face... fifty of them were an unstoppable force.

"_Raven... I guess... I guess you weren't able to find those nanomachines..." _Beast Boy let out a groan, then closed his eyes, a single tear slipping down the side of his face. _"No... I can't lose you... I already lost Terra... I can't..."_

But it was all over. He and his friends were powerless to stop the massive beasts, and Raven couldn't stop Omega Ternion alone... and now he hated himself for not following her.

"_I could've done something... I wasn't thinking, but... I should've gone in with her... and I'll never... get to tell her that... that..."_

Beast Boy opened his eyes again, looking straight up into the sky above.

"_I love you, Raven..."_

O-O-O

Immobilized and completely trapped, Raven was cut off from the world, her body encased in a tight cocoon at the center of Omega Ternion's body. It was impossible for her to breathe, and she knew death would come in a matter of minutes... nothing could save her, not her powers, not her friends... she had failed.

"_I'm so sorry, everyone..."_

Through the darkness, through the hard sludge that encased Raven's body, something broke through... a singular thought that pierced through everything that kept Raven trapped... a powerful thought, something that Raven never expected to hear...

"_I love you, Raven..."_

"_Beast Boy?!"_

She couldn't respond, and neither could he... but that thought awakened something within Raven, triggered an emotional response that immediately manifested in her soul... her powers reactivated, and began pressing against the cocoon encasing Raven's body, forcing back the tentacles binding her limbs, and instantly shattered everything it touched. A bright, white flash, pushing everything away and freeing Raven in an instant. She let out a scream and extended her arms, her eyes focused straight ahead on the three unconscious beings before her and the nanites flowing through their bodies.

"Azarath, metreon, ZINTHOS!"

An explosion of energy... the nanites were destroyed, and with them, the walls that sustained Omega Ternion's frame began to fell away... the creature was melting around Raven. She immediately formed a glowing energy barrier around herself, Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload, watching as Omega Ternion's body collapsed with her inside, exposing her to the elements once more. A bright flash of lightning illuminated Raven's body as she began her descent toward the street... and into the puddle of sludge that the destroyed Omega Ternion and the nanomachines that comprised it left behind.

All over the city, Omega Ternion's clones fell apart, leaving thick coatings of sludge and a few small boulders behind. The sludge coated buildings, filled the streets... but the wave of destruction had ended as soon as it had begun. The army of huge beasts had been stopped just short of reaching the heart of the Los Angeles skyline, leaving most of the city's tallest buildings completely untouched. Though dazed and injured, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy stood up to see their enemies melting away... and soon, nothing remained of them but a thick, purple ooze.

The city was safe... for now.

"...I don't believe it, y'all..." groaned Cyborg, rubbing his head as he stood up along with Starfire and Beast Boy. "Raven actually did it!"

"Glorious!" shouted Starfire, squealing in delight as the rain began to wash the sludge into the Los Angeles sewers. "We have triumphed over our gigantic adversaries!"

"_I didn't doubt you for a second, Rae..." _thought Beast Boy, standing up and wiping a tear away from his eye. _"...well, okay, maybe a couple of seconds..."_

But the Titans' celebration was short-lived as Starfire's communicator began to ring. She took it out and saw Robin on the screen.

"Starfire... what's going on?"

"The Omega Ternions have all been defeated! Raven has saved the day!" Starfire declared happily.

"That's great news... good work, team," Robin replied. "But now there's more work to do. In order to keep the nanomachines from destroying Los Angeles, there are five terminals that need to be deactivated. I've already taken care of one of them, and I'm about to head up into the tower to find another one, but you guys will need to help out, because there are four more that still remain. Three are in Library Tower, and Construct's got a hold of one of them..."

"...will you be going after the Construct?" asked Starfire.

"I'm not sure," said Robin. "Terra and I have a few things to take care of down here, so you guys need to get to Library Tower as soon as possible. I'm going to be sending this message to Raven too, so she'll be able to meet you there."

Robin's face disappeared from the screen, and Starfire immediately turned to her teammates to tell them where they needed to go next.

"Robin said that we must deactivate three terminals within the Library Tower if we are to stop the nanites from destroying this city," said Starfire. "And... we must also attempt to find Construct."

"Well, what are we standing around here for?" asked Cyborg. "Let's go kick some butt!"

Starfire nodded, and the three Titans soon made their way to Library Tower.

O-O-O

"Well, I just got finished talking with Raven," said Robin, putting his communicator away and turning to Terra. "Do you know where Sanza is?"

"He... he said he had something to take care of..." Terra replied. She was standing over by Aylesworth, her mind racing to find a way that she could end his suffering without having to kill him. Her attempts at manipulating the ground around his body were unsuccessful, as the nanites had completely fused him with the metal support pole in the center of the room. "Robin... I think... I think we should..."

Terra didn't want to say it... she couldn't bring herself to utter those words... _we have to kill Aylesworth... it's the only way..._

Tears were streaking down Terra's face. As Aylesworth let out another scream, the geomancer choked out a sob, turning away from him and putting her hands over her mouth.

"Robin..." she dropped her hands and looked up, right into her teammate's eyes. "I don't want to watch him suffer... we have to kill him!"

"No," Robin said calmly. He looked over at Aylesworth, looked into his eyes... then turned away and back to Terra. "The second he dies, the nanites' secondary program will activate... Los Angeles will be completely destroyed."

"...what?!"

"Slade planned for this, he wanted the man responsible for crippling his son to suffer as much as possible... I searched that program as deeply as I could, I tried everything to reverse the process, but..."

"KILL ME!!!" Aylesworth's latest scream, more agonized than any he'd made before, was made just as the man reached his final breaking point. He didn't care about the Titans, he didn't care about Los Angeles... he just wanted the Titans to end his suffering, and he didn't care what happened after that. "KILL ME GOD DAMMIT!!!"

Horrified, Terra buried her face in Robin's chest, sobbing violently. If she killed Aylesworth, she'd be killing Sanza... that alone stayed her hand from picking up the nearest rock and bashing Aylesworth's head in. She buried her face deep, not wanting to hear another scream, just wanting it all to go away.

"I'm sorry," Robin said, his voice trembling as he spoke. "There's... nothing I can do..."

He clenched his teeth tightly as he turned away from Aylesworth, releasing Terra and starting to walk out of the room. He would make Slade pay... he would make Slade suffer, just like Slade had made Aylesworth suffer.

"_I will NOT let you get away with this, Slade... I swear, with every fiber of my being, I WILL stop you..."_

Robin and Terra exited the room together, unable to block the suffering man's screams from their minds. It was just another reminder of how much they needed to defeat Slade... and Terra began saying a silent prayer that Sanza would be successful in doing so.

"_Sanza... wherever you are, it's all up to you... you have to beat Slade... so no one else has to suffer..."_

O-O-O

As Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy walked down the street toward Library Tower, the changeling could see someone walking over from the opposite direction... and as soon as their eyes met, he broke off into a run.

"Raven!"

Raven stopped in her tracks, watching as Beast Boy transformed into a greyhound, then a gazelle, and finally, into a lightning-fast cheetah... before detransforming back into a human and running the final few feet toward her, wrapping her up in a tight embrace before she could do anything to avoid it.

"I'm... glad to see you too, Beast Boy..." Raven didn't return the hug, but she didn't push Beast Boy away... she genuinely was glad to see him, just as she was glad to see Starfire and Cyborg, who were eagerly awaiting her at the entrance to the tower. _"You don't know how glad I am..."_

When Beast Boy finally released Raven, he looked up into her eyes, trying to gauge her exact expression... and the whole time, he was trying to stammer out just how he felt about her.

"Raven, I thought... you know, I thought you were like dead or something... because you didn't come back, and we were getting our butts kicked, and I just... I knew something was wrong, but I never lost faith... well, I mean, okay, for a second or two, but then..."

"I'm fine, Beast Boy..." Raven would never tell him that it had been _his _thought entering her head that had given her the strength she needed to defeat Omega Ternion... that when hope seemed lost, and when her life was about to slip away, she heard his voice and felt an emotion she'd never felt before... an emotion that made her stronger than ever. "But now we need to-"

And then, it happened. Beast Boy's hands wrapped around Raven, pulling her face to his until their lips touched. For several seconds, Raven stood there with her eyes open and her lips pressed tightly to Beast Boy's, wondering exactly what to think or what to do... she could've blasted the changeling clear across the street, but she found herself completely paralyzed, allowing him to kiss her as long as he wanted before finally, quickly pulling away.

The two then stared at each other for about as long as they had kissed... not saying anything until Beast Boy finally broke the ice, rubbing his lips and tongue with one of his fingers.

"Did you uh... did you eat something, like sludge, or... because it kinda tasted like that when I kissed you, just for a second, but-"

"You're the one who kissed me, so don't complain about tasting anything nasty," said Raven calmly, walking past Beast Boy with that familiar, scowling expression on her face, acting as if the kiss her never even happened. "Now, as I was saying, we need to de-activate those computer terminals."

As Raven joined her friends and headed into the lobby of the tower, Beast Boy ran to catch up, blinking the whole time and wondering if Raven was even going to acknowledge the fact that he'd kissed her.

"I mean, it wasn't bad, I mean, besides the sludge the kiss tasted pretty good... I mean... you have really soft lips... Raven...?... Raven?!..."

And as the four Titans disappeared into the tower, Slade emerged from a nearby alley. He'd watched them the entire time, but Beast Boy and Raven's tender moment was inconsequential... he was waiting for someone else.

"_All three of my apprentices were down there, trying to stop me... I'm certain that one of them saw me run past, and I might as well amuse myself while waiting for this pathetic city to be destroyed."_

Slade walked out into the middle of the street, ignoring the rain, the thunder, and the lightning as he faced the entrance of Library Tower and waited for someone to come out. He didn't care if it was Robin, Terra, or Sanza... whoever it was, he would destroy them... the rest would be destroyed by his nanites, which Slade was confident the Titans wouldn't be able to stop in time, even if they did discover how to do so.

"_You can't save Aylesworth, and you can't save this city... and soon, you won't even be able to save yourselves."_

Finally, a figure emerged from the entrance of the tower... it was Red X, his eyes locked on Slade's as soon as he exited the building. This was the moment he'd been waiting for ever since that night in Chu-hui's temple... his training hadn't helped him beat Slade as Sanza, but as Red X, he was unstoppable. All of his fear melted away, adrenaline coursed through his veins... Red X was determined to defeat Slade, and now, he would finally get his chance.

The rain beat down hard on Red X as he began walking toward Slade, wanting to get close enough so that the man who'd tormented so many of his loved ones could hear him speak... finally, once the two were about ten yards apart, X knew he could be heard if he shouted.

"It's over, Slade... you'll never hurt Terra or anyone else again!"

"Do you really think that you can defeat me? After all the times you fell before me, that today is the day that you finally win? You are naive, Sanza, more naive than anyone I've ever met."

X clenched his fists... another bright flash of lightning appeared in the skies overhead.

"For everyone you've made suffer... I'll make you suffer ten times more! You'll pay... every time you hurt Terra, every time you attacked my family..."

"Are you through talking?"

"_Yes, Slade... yes I am."_

X ran across the rain-soaked street, and Slade charged forward to meet him, the two taking their steps at the exact same time, keeping their eyes locked on one another, rearing their fists back to strike...

And then, the first punch. Fueled by xynothium and adrenaline, X's fist slammed hard into the side of Slade's face, knocking his head back... Slade responded with a brutal punch to X's jaw, one that caused the thief to take several steps back... but he quickly came forward again and landed a blow to Slade's ribs that caused him to double over.

"_He is... stronger... stronger than I thought...!" _Undeterred, Slade brought up his foot and kicked X hard in the thigh, nearly causing him to fall... but X caught himself, and the two began exchanging blows rapidly, not backing down as they both took repeated blows to the face and chest. Finally, the two threw back their fists and punched each other again, at the same time... and both went flying back across the street, landing exactly where they'd been before the fight began. X was leaning slightly forward, while Slade stood upright, preparing for the next attack, whatever it might be.

It was then that X decided to take the fight to the air. He extended his wings and lifted about a foot off of the ground, flying toward Slade at incredible speed. To his great surprise, Slade lifted up the same distance, and X could see small jets of nanite-generated flame emerging from the bottom of his boots as he too lifted off and flew forward.

The two met head-on, sending out a powerful shockwave that completely shattered the ground-floor windows of every building on both sides of the street. X and Slade flew back from one another, the force of the collision giving their bodies a great deal of inertia... but they were not deterred, and flew at one another again, exchanging punches and kicks as they circled around one another and began their ascent skyward.

"You can fly too...? How is that even possible?"

"Nanotechnology within my suit... you're not the only one whose skills have improved, Sanza."

Now about ten stories off of the ground, the airborne-fight was no different from the one that X and Slade had started on the ground... and as X tried to land another kick to Slade's chest, Slade struck with an elbow that slammed into the side of X's face, knocking him back into the side of a building. He let out a pained grunt as his back collided with the concrete facade, but before he could recover, Slade came at him again, connecting with a punch that embedded X's body into the concrete. He screamed again, feeling a surge of electricity as the xynothium in his suit quickly swelled around him to form a protective barrier. He extended his palm and blasted Slade in the chest with an explosive X, giving him the time he needed to recover as his opponent was knocked away.

"_He's got nanotech in his suit... he's even more powerful than he was when Terra fought him... this isn't good..." _Breathing heavily, X shook off the pain and stayed on Slade, opting to hit him with more explosive projectiles rather than go for another physical attack. The Xs slammed into Slade's body, but they had little effect, and soon, Slade was flying at X again, landing a powerful kick that sent him plummeting back toward the concrete. _"Not good!"_

Thinking quickly, X fired a grappling chain through the window of the building he'd been knocked into earlier. He swung up into the building, landing in an office on the 14th floor and giving himself a few more seconds to catch his breath. He backed away from the window, preparing to charge up another attack, when suddenly, he could see Slade flying up to meet him.

"You're starting to look like you're afraid... you're not afraid of me, are you?"

X responded by extending his wrist blades and running forward, slashing multiple times at Slade's body. Slade blocked the blows against his gloves, then thrust his arm forward, striking the thief with a powerful shockwave of energy that sent him crashing into the wall at the back of the room. He retracted his blades and began littering the floor and ceiling with Xs that formed sparking electrical barricades between them, threatening to shock Slade if he got too close.

"That confirms it. You are afraid."

X threw his hands forward again, causing the electrical bands to all converge on Slade's location at once. He rolled out of the way, withdrawing two flash bombs from his belt and throwing them down in front of X to blind him... but when the flash disappeared, X had vanished as well.

"_Surely he couldn't have seen that coming..." _thought Slade, momentarily looking around the room. _"Then again, he is a quick one..."_

As Slade began walking around the room, Red X was perched on the ceiling above, hanging upside-down and waiting for Slade to get right beneath him.

"_Come on... come on... walk over here..."_

Finally, Slade looked up... and X fell on him immediately, landing just behind him and kicking him hard across the small of his back. Slade fell forward, and X rolled around to face him, striking with a powerful uppercut to the jaw. As the stunned villain stumbled back, X leapt up again, and struck Slade in the chest with both feet, a powerful kick that sent him flying out the window.

"Upgrades my ass," X commented as soon as he landed on the floor. He ran over to the window and leapt out after Slade, who was still falling to the ground below... and was holding something in his right hand. _"What is that...?"  
_

It was a grappling cable, and as soon as X realized that, it looped tightly around his neck, strangling the air out of him and pulling him down with Slade, who descended gently to the street, allowing X to fall to the ground at full speed. The thief managed to slow himself down enough to avoid injury, but still hit hard enough for it to hurt rather badly... and he still had Slade's cable wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Now, how should I end this? Quickly, by tightening the cable and snapping your neck? Or slowly, by allowing you to strangle to death?"

"_You're not... gonna end it... at all," _thought X, extending one of his wrist blades and trying to cut into the cable... with no avail. _"What the hell? What is this thing made of?"_

Slade retracted the cable a bit, dragging X slowly along the ground, while still choking the life out of him with every passing second.

"I shouldn't have left that temple," said Slade as he slowly pulled Red X along. "I should've stayed there... I could've overpowered Terra before she collapsed that mountain. It was a rare mistake... I had you both at my mercy, and I let my fear get in the way..."

Red X didn't want to listen to Slade's taunting, didn't want to be reminded of that night... even though every thought of Terra in pain just made him more and more angry... it made him stronger... but still, knowing that he'd failed to protect her... and now, losing again...

"At least I was careful... unlike you, Sanza, who just doesn't seem to get it. You never had a chance against me, and you never will... no matter what you do, no matter how much you train, I will always be stronger, and I will always be better."

X managed to climb to his feet, but he was still struggling to breathe, and was still unable to extricate his neck from the deathgrip that the cable had on him. Slade began to retract it even more, but this time, X remained standing... he began walking forward, walking toward Slade, looking into his eyes the whole time.

"_I will NEVER quit... I WILL defeat you... I WILL make you pay for hurting Terra...!"_

"You should've been my apprentice, Sanza. All of this suffering you had to endure was only because of your stubbornness. It's your fault that your family had to live in fear, it's your fault that I had to hurt Terra. I offered you everything, and just like all the others, you turned your back on me. I will make all three of you suffer, I will make you suffer, I will make Robin suffer, and I will make Terra suffer. I think I'll start by showing her your corpse."

Slade retracted the cable all the way, and X could feel himself being pulled in toward Slade extremely quickly... could feel his neck beginning to bend, and his throat beginning to crack. The only thing he could do to escape was to fly forward, as fast as he could... which caused the cable to slacken ever so slightly as he charged right into Slade, his fist fully extended.

The blow surprised Slade, who was thrown back violently... with such force that the cable connected to X's neck finally snapped, and Slade landed hard on his back some distance away. The momentum then transferred to Red X, who stumbled back for a few seconds... then brought himself to a stop. He ripped the rest of the broken cable from his neck and took several gasping breaths before pointing his hand outward and focusing as much energy as he could into the center of his palm.

"THIS IS IT, SLADE!" Electricity coursed around Red X's body... he concentrated as hard as he could, thinking of everything that Chu-hui had taught him... and every moment that Terra had suffered at Slade's hands. A brilliant red bolt flew outward from X's palm, instantly crossing over to Slade, who had just begun to stand... but amazingly, just as the bolt slammed into the ground and threw up a large, vertical explosion, Slade took off into the sky, completely dodging the attack. _"NO!"_

Frustrated, Red X flew up to met Slade, and the two began exchanging blows again. X threw several punches at Slade's face, and had all of them blocked against the villain's palm... before receiving a powerful backhanded slap that completely stunned him, leaving him susceptible to a punch aimed right at his chest. By some miracle, X managed to reach out and catch Slade's punch, stopping it even as his vision remained hazy from the slap. He turned his head until he was looking right into Slade's eyes... then, with his other hand, began punching Slade repeatedly in the face. Several blows rained down in quick succession, each one more powerful than the last. Finally, X spun around and slammed the side of his leg into Slade's gut, sending him flying back toward the 26th story of Library Tower.

Slade stopped himself just before crashing through the windows, turning himself around so that his head was pointed right at Red X's chest. He flew forward, the shockwave from his movement causing the windows behind him to shatter. When X lifted off higher into the air, Slade followed him, and this continued until the two were more than a thousand feet above the city, circling around one another and waiting to strike.

"_This is getting insane..." _thought X, thinking that perhaps the nanites in Slade's boots would give out once he reached a certain height. _"The moment I learn to fly, Slade does the same thing... is it really impossible for me to beat him?"_

As X was pondering what to do next, Slade struck quickly, flying at the thief and striking with another punch to the jaw. The blow sent him careening backward, but he managed to stop himself, and launched several exploding Xs at Slade, who weaved back and forth to dodge them as he came at Red X again. He kicked outward, a blow that X blocked with a Xynothium barrier, which he then used to block the next several blows before launching a punch that Slade caught in mid-swing, catching X by the wrist and wrenching his arm painfully behind his back.

"Are you even trying anymore?" Slade said, almost quietly enough to be a whisper. He tightened his grip, and X let out a scream as his shoulder was put under an immense amount of pressure. "Or is this really the best you have?"

Slade released X, only to kick him hard in the back, knocking him forward a short distance. He then flew to meet him, remaining behind him so that he could grab the wings and rip them loose from X's back. It took him less than a second to begin to fall, and Slade quickened the process by kicking his opponent in the exact same spot he'd kicked him just a few seconds ago, with much greater force than before. X went flying forward, and he was falling at the same time... without his wings, he hit terminal velocity very quickly.

"_Not good, not good, not good...!!" _Closing his eyes, X was able to quickly regenerate his xynothium wings, causing his freefall to change into a smooth glide as he continued forward, landing on the edge of the roof of a forty-story building. He bounced once, hit the concrete and bounced again, skidded, and came to a stop on the middle of the roof, right in the center of the helipad. Groaning, he rose to his feet and rubbed his head, his body tingling in pain as Slade descended to meet him. _"I haven't lost yet..."_

But the pain in his limbs was very familiar... and Red X couldn't help but think that perhaps he'd made a mistake in challenging Slade. Even with his powers of flight, even with his new skills, even with the martial arts that Chu-hui had taught him... he still wasn't strong enough to defeat the man who'd put him and his loved ones through so much.

"Are we going to continue, or are you just going to stand there and beg for mercy?"

"...I already told you, I'm not giving up." Red X stepped forward, lowering his wings and raising his fists. "Let's finish this right here."

Slade chuckled to himself, not moving as X continued to walk toward him.

"That's perfectly fine with me," said Slade, rushing forward once again to exchange blows with Red X in the middle of the roof.

O-O-O

Robin and Terra's exit from Slade's lair had been delayed considerably by the arrival of dozens of upgraded Sladebots... and this time, there would be no escape. The pair would have to fight their way through.

"They just keep coming!" shouted Terra, sending pillar after pillar of concrete through the walls in an effort to smash any Sladebots that got too close. "I don't know how much more of this concrete I can move without weakening the foundation of the building!"

But Robin was completely focused on fighting, not talking to Terra at all... and as half a dozen Sladebots lunged at him, he swung his staff violently around, knocking them all away. They immediately recovered, coming back at Robin and grabbing his staff as he tried to strike them again.

"_We're not gonna make it out of here..." _thought Terra, breaking the pillar into pieces and pelting several of the Sladebots with small chunks of rock. _"But Sanza needs us... dammit, I never should've left him!"_

Ever since she and Robin had left Aylesworth back in that room, Terra had regretted allowing Sanza to go fight Slade alone. She'd made him a promise, and now she was breaking it... even though he asked her too, Terra still felt guilty about leaving him behind.

"Terra, I need help!" Robin had fought desperately to keep hold of his staff, but the Sladebots had been too strong, and they'd taken it away, leaving Robin with only his fists and feet as a weapon. The Sladebots were too close for him to use anything from his utility belt without risking a backfire, and soon, he found himself completely surrounded. "TERRA!"

Letting out a scream, Terra thrust her fist forward, punching one of the Sladebots in the face and knocking it away from Robin. Then, despite the risk that she might cause a cave-in, she collapsed the ceiling on several of the bots, sending rock and dirt from above pouring in. The Sladebots were soon buried, while the rest of the ceiling held firm, and Terra breathed a sigh of relief. The other Sladebots turned their attention away from Robin, lunging at Terra and dodging the pillars of rock she attempted to form out of the dirt now piled on the ground.

Just before reaching Terra, the Sladebots were frozen literally in their tracks. One freeze bomb from Robin's utility belt was all that it took to encase them entirely... and though Terra was extremely close to the freeze bomb when it was deployed, she remained unfrozen... though the boundary of the ice cube it had formed stopped just six inches from her face.

"Thanks for the save," said Terra, breathing rather heavily as she spoke.

"You saved me first," replied Robin, who could hear more Sladebots coming just around the corner. _"Damn..."_

The look of relief on Terra's face as the Sladebots were defeated disappeared as more came pouring in, and now, the geomancer was beginning to wonder if she'd _ever _get back to Sanza.

"...Terra... it's Slade, isn't it?"

"What?"

"That business Sanza went to take care of... he's fighting Slade," said Robin, knowing exactly why Terra had been so tense and nervous. _"It wasn't just seeing Aylesworth... she's worried about Sanza, and there's only one reason why she'd be THAT worried."_

"...I promised him that the next time he fought Slade, I'd be with him... but Sanza wanted to take care of it alone... Robin, if something's happened to him-"

"I know how that feels, but I don't think Sanza can handle Slade by himself. It's not that he's not strong... I know he's improved, but... it's his attitude, Terra. It's his anger... _and I know how that feels too..._"

By now, nearly a dozen Sladebots were rushing in from one side of the corridor. At the end was a clear path back to the cylindrical chasm that led to the surface... and to Sanza.

"Terra, I'll hold them back."

"...what? Robin, no, you can't fight them alone!"

"And Sanza can't fight Slade alone. But I know that he needs you a lot more than I do. Please, Terra... go help him."

Terra looked back and forth... back at Robin and the Sladebots, and then to the end of the hall... and back again.

"_If I leave him now, he'll..."_

Then, Terra remembered Aylesworth... seeing his body, twisted and mangled by the nanobots... hearing his screams, his pleas to be put out of his misery.

And then she remembered that night at the temple... how she'd been forced to watch as Sanza fought to save her life... and was beaten nearly to death in the process.

She remembered her training sessions under Slade... how viciously he beat her whenever she messed up, how he would scream at her, torment her... and how, even once she'd sworn her loyalty to him, he treated her as if she were nothing.

"_I hate you, Slade... and if you've hurt Sanza... I'll rip you apart."_

For the briefest moment, Terra placed her hand on Robin's shoulder. She mouthed 'thank you' to him... then ran off down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

Destination: Slade.

"Looks like you guys are all mine," said Robin, a smile on his face as he held his bo staff in one hand and gestured toward the Sladebots with the other. _"Come and get me!"_

O-O-O

For a few minutes, Red X was able to match Slade blow for blow... but then, it was business as usual again, as Slade began pummeling X relentlessly, battering him with punches and kicks that would surely leave nasty-looking bruises beneath his costume.

But still, X refused to give up. Beaten all the way back to the edge of the roof, he extended his wrist blades and slashed Slade several times, making numerous cuts in his chest, piercing the body armor he was wearing underneath and causing Slade to bleed. He then rolled beneath Slade's legs and stood up behind him, kicking him in the back and nearly sending him plummeting off the building...

But Slade quickly responded, spinning around and slamming his foot into the side of X's face, knocking him onto his back again.

"I tire of this, Sanza... this city will soon be destroyed, and you and your friends along with it."

X stood up and began backing off, holding his arms defensively in front of his face, keeping his blades in position to strike as Slade walked toward him.

"_Nothing works on this guy... no matter what I do, I just can't seem to beat him..." _X's confidence was rapidly fading, and he seemed to be completely out of answers. Another loud crash of thunder shook the building, and the thief could feel his knees trembling even after the rumble had faded. _"Not again... I won't... lose... again!"_

Slade continued to walk toward the thief, and seemed poised to strike him again, sensing that the end was drawing near. Suddenly, a large chunk of concrete slammed into his back, knocking him forward and causing him to let out a loud cry of pain. He turned around, only to have another large piece of concrete hit him, this time in the head. He was knocked down, and he rolled several feet before landing on his face some distance away, groaning in pain.

"If you know what's good for you," shouted Terra, a look of contempt on her face as she hovered beside the roof on a large section of cement, "you'll stay down, you son of a bitch!"

"...Terra?" Red X said in bewilderment, looking up at the blonde as she lowered herself down to the roof. "I thought... I thought I told you to-"

"And I promised to always fight by your side, Sanza... I almost broke that promise before I came to my senses..." Terra toward the middle of the roof, and soon, she and X were standing next to each other, Terra's hands gently wrapped around his own. "I don't care what you say, I'm going to fight Slade with you..."

X looked at Terra, and then at Slade, who was just beginning to pick himself back up from the blows he'd sustained. Then, he turned back to Terra, and placed his gloved hand gently on her cheek.

"We are _so _gonna kick Slade's ass." Smiling under his mask, X turned with Terra to face the archvillain, who'd finally pulled himself back up to a standing position. "You hear that, Slade? It's over!"

"You really think so? I defeated you both and I'll do it again... if you want to die in each other's arms, then so be it!"


	28. New Day, New Life

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, this would be on TV and not here. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This doesn't take place in the same storyline as my "Forced Base" and "Fractured Heart" stories, so forget those when you're reading this. Also, about Sanza/Red X: When he's wearing the mask, he's Red X. When he's not, he's Sanza. Simple as that.

SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the third part of a trilogy, which includes "The Life and Times of Red X", and "Maiden of Stone", both of which are in my profile. Read those before you read this. Also, this fic COMPLETELY IGNORES the events of the fifth season (with the exception of "Go"). For the purposes of this fic, "Things Change" NEVER HAPPENED.

O-O-O

As soon as the four Titans entered the lobby of Library Tower, Cyborg began running a search on his scanner for the three computer terminals that lay within the building... as well as the de-activation terminal held by Construct.

"Robin is... somewhere down there," said Starfire, floating over the large hole that Terra had created in the middle of the lobby. "Down below with Slade..."

A shiver went through Starfire's body, but she was able to stave it off, remembering that Robin had promised her that he would return safely. Still, she worried... even though Terra and Red X were with him, his safety was hardly guaranteed.

"Robin will be fine," said Raven, standing with Beast Boy at the far end of the chasm. "He'll be back up here shortly."

Beast Boy still had other things on his mind... mostly, he was distraught that Raven still didn't acknowledge the kiss he'd given her. Even an angry reaction would've been better than nothing... now it just seemed like she was trying to forget the kiss entirely.

"I got it, y'all," said Cyborg, looking at a small computer monitor built into his right wrist. "I've got abnormal computer activity on the 8th, 35th, 50th, and 62nd floors."

"...and where is Construct?" asked Starfire. "He holds one of the terminals, the scan should have identified him..."

"Not sure, all I know is that the activity is registering from these four floors," Cyborg continued. "Do we each go looking for one of the terminals? That might be the quickest way to find them, but they'll probably be heavily guarded."

"We have to assume that Robin, Red X, and Terra will be arriving shortly," Raven said, not knowing that two of those people were currently engaged in other matters. "I'm sure they can probably handle two of the terminals, and I don't suggest splitting up the group any more than we have to."

Starfire nodded in agreement, though at the same time, she was confident that she could handle the search for one of the terminals, and perhaps even Construct, should she happen to engage him, on her own. Almost immediately, she used her eye lasers to blast a hole in the ceiling, quickly diverting her friends' attention toward her.

"I will make my way to the 62nd floor... the rest of you should stay together and search for one of the terminals," said Starfire, not waiting for any other directions before flying up through the hole.

"...dude..." said Beast Boy quietly, looking up through the hole. "She really wants to start looking..."

"Wouldn't it have been easier for her just to fly outside and head up to the 62nd floor that way, instead of blasting through each and every floor?" Cyborg said, hearing small explosions from Starfire's lasers, which were getting quieter and quieter as she ascended the building. "Or at least take the elevator or something..."

"You know Starfire, always doing things in her own special way," Beast Boy commented, walking around the chasm with Raven and Cyborg as the group headed toward the nearest elevator. "So... which floor are we going to?"

"Might as well start with the closest," Cyborg replied. He pressed a button next to the elevator door, and it opened a few seconds later. "Eighth floor it is."

The three Titans stepped into the elevator, and as the door closed, Beast Boy once again started thinking about Raven... and worrying about Terra. For some reason, he could sense that she was in some kind of trouble... maybe even engaged in battle with Slade himself. He knew full well the terrible injuries that Slade was capable of inflicting, remembering how bad Terra looked as she returned to the Tower with Sanza just a few days ago.

"_Raven healed her, she should be okay, but... I know she still has to be hurting pretty badly... I just hope she's safe, wherever she is..."_

O-O-O

Slade's powerful kick came just centimeters away from Terra's ribs, still bandaged from the injuries they'd sustained just days ago. Terra knew that the vicious criminal mastermind would try to exploit her weakness, and she did everything she could to keep him from attacking the injured area. She levitated chunks of concrete from the roof of the building, pelting Slade multiple times in an attempt to keep him back.

"You think that those little pebbles will harm me?" Slade taunted, punching through one of the projectiles and continuing forward, landing a punch that struck Terra across the bridge of her nose. The geomancer let out a scream before hitting the ground, and Slade raised his foot above her bandaged ribs, preparing to land a devastating blow. "Honestly, I thought I taught you better than that..."

It was then that Red X swooped in from behind, landing a spinning aerial kick that knocked Slade away from Terra. He was knocked away, but remained on his feet, turning and withdrawing a small throwing knife from his belt. He threw the knife at X, only to have him produce an X-shaped shield from his hand that deflected the knife harmlessly away. X then ran forward, launching a punch at Slade's face that was barely dodged. X fell slightly to the left, and Slade aimed a knee at his gut, only to have a large chunk of concrete slam into his legs and knock him flat on his face.

"And I thought you knew that you should pay attention to _both_ of your opponents," said a smiling Terra, who raised up her hands and generated a small wave of concrete that sent Slade tumbling over himself, almost to the edge of the roof. He recovered and climbed atop the wave, riding it all the way to the precipice before leaping off of it and flying forward, charging headlong at Terra. He was met by a barrage of exploding Xs, forcing him to land and shield himself by crossing his arms over his face and chest. By the time the cloud of smoke from the attack had dissipated, his two opponents were now hovering on either side of the roof, flying around its perimeter and laughing at him.

"Not so fun now that we're _both _fighting you," shouted Red X. Clenching his fists, Slade turned to Terra, who was sticking her tongue out at Slade as she floated past on a concrete platform.

"We're not going to be your victims anymore!" said Terra, with a surge of bravery and confidence unlike any she'd had in quite some time. "It's over!"

Angrily, Slade lifted up from the ground nearly six feet before suddenly coming back down, plowing his fist into the ground and sending out a devastating shockwave. The force of the wave blasted off much of the concrete from the outer portion of the roof, and shattered every window on the building's top six floors. It also knocked Terra off of her platform and disoriented Red X, who began to fall and was soon showered by small chunks of rock and shards of glass from the broken windows. When he looked at his wings, he could see more glass embedded in them, weighing them down and making flight difficult and awkward. He managed to flutter into the building's 36th floor, stumbling forward and breathing heavily as he caught his bearings.

"_Shit... should've known that Slade could do that..." _thought Red X, leaning against a desk and fluttering his wings several times to get all the glass out of them. _"Wait a minute... where's Terra?"_

On the other side of the building, Terra was in complete freefall, screaming as she desperately tried to grab onto some of the concrete that had been dislodged from the building. She was unable to get her platform down in time to catch herself, and as she continued to fall, she realized that the only way she could save herself would be to bring up some of the pavement from the street and use it to slow herself down.

But when she looked up, she saw something that filled her with horror. Slade was flying down after her, his hand outstretched toward her neck. She let out another scream, only to have it stifled by Slade's fingers catching her around the throat. He brought back his other fist, preparing to strike her in the ribs as she continued to fall.

"_No... no, not like this..." _Knowing that she was only seconds away from painful death, not from Slade's blows, but from impact with the ground below, Terra closed her eyes and desperately tried to bring up a rock from the sidewalk to grab onto.

A violent crashing sound, immediately accompanied by a powerful jolt, instantly released Terra from Slade's deathgrip. Red X had flown through the building, and had tackled Slade through the window of the skyscraper next door, freeing Terra and giving her the split-second of concentration that she needed to bring up a section of sidewalk to slow her fall. She felt herself being lifted up just three stories above the ground, and immediately floated back up, just in time to see X being violently thrown out of the building he'd just tackled Slade through.

"SANZA!" Horrified by the sudden turn of events, Terra turned her attention back to the building that she had been knocked off of before... and through a window on the 19th floor, she could see Red X lying flat on his back, groaning in pain. Turning to the building across the alley, she could see Slade flying straight forward, and was able to duck just in time to avoid being tackled off of her new platform. Instead of tackling Terra, Slade landed next to the fallen Red X... and lifted him up from the floor by his neck. "Oh no you don't!"

Raising up her hands, Terra launched a barrage of earthen material from the adjacent skyscraper at Slade, most of it consisting of soil from the various potted plants that dotted the building's offices. Hardened by Terra into thick rocks, the clumps of soil punched through dozens of windows above and below where she and Slade were standing... though some of the clumps did find their mark, slamming into Slade and forcing him once again into a defensive position. The barrage subsided, and X was able to climb to his feet... though he was now tightly clutching his chest, and seemed to be in serious pain.

"Sanza... are you all right?" Terra asked, quickly running over to check on the status of her boyfriend. He gave her an affirmative nod, but the strain in his voice indicated that he'd suffered a serious blow.

"Just... a few punches to the chest... nothing to... be too worried about..." X replied, sucking in a loud breath of air. He looked over his shoulder and could see Slade rushing forward again. "Come on, we've gotta get back up to the roof..."

Extending his wings, X quickly grabbed Terra and flew out the window, soaring up the side of the building until he was once again able to reach the roof, now littered with broken fragments of concrete. Just as he set Terra down, Slade reappeared, hovering beside the roof with his arms across his chest.

"You're both wearing down... and much quicker than I would've anticipated," said Slade coldly, stepping out onto the roof and walking toward X and Terra, who began backing off while keeping their eyes locked on their opponent. "But as you can see, I'm just beginning to warm up. In fact..."

Before X or Terra could defend themselves, Slade kicked a wayward piece of concrete straight forward, aimed right at Terra's bandaged ribs. She saw it coming, but was unable to dodge, and sustained a direct hit. Letting out a scream, she collapsed to her knees and bowed her head, instantly spewing a large clump of blood from her mouth.

"You son of a bitch!" shouted X, running forward at Slade and striking at his face with a furious punch. Effortlessly, Slade caught X's fist, then struck the thief's chest with the side of his other arm, knocking X onto his back next to the fallen Terra, coughing violently._ "I... can't breathe..."_

"Pathetic."

Slade bent down and picked up the largest piece of concrete that was laying nearby, a 500-pound rock much larger than Red X's head, and more than large enough to smash it into tiny pieces. He began walking over to the fallen thief, who was too stunned with pain to resist... but Terra, still choking on her own blood a short distance away, was still capable of defending herself... and Sanza.

"I won't... let you hurt him..." gasped Terra. Still on her knees, she planted one hand on the ground to support herself, and raised the other hand, which began to glow a bright shade of yellow that matched the glow forming in the geomancer's eyes. As Slade lifted the rock high over his head, it too began to glow... and Slade could feel his grip on the rock beginning to loosen.

"_No... how can she still...?" _Slade's attention was diverted to Terra, whose teeth were clenched tightly in anger as she used her powers to lift the rock completely out of Slade's grasp. "NO!"

The rock was lifted several feet above Slade's head, then thrust straight down, stopped only by its intended target's hands once again reaching up... this time, not to grab it, but merely to stop it from splitting his skull. His elbows bent, and he let out a loud grunt as he strained to hold back the rock... with Terra pushing down on it with her powers the entire time. Finally, Slade emitted one lot, violent scream... and threw the rock off the side of the roof, where it made a loud thud as it hit the pavement below.

The thought of coming so close to defeat, or perhaps even death, had enraged Slade. Letting out another shout, he charged forward and backhanded Terra with such force that she was instantly knocked unconscious, her body twitching as a small stream of blood poured from her lips onto the concrete rooftop. Nearby, Red X had just begun to pick himself up... but when he saw Terra get knocked out, a wave of anger hit him... accompanied by a wave of fear.

"_I'm alone again..." _thought X, watching as Slade turned back to face him. _"Alone with Terra... and I'm the only one who can protect her..."_

Sanza's nightmares were all flooding back to him... and he began to once again realize that this was a fight he couldn't win.

O-O-O

Around the 15th floor or so, Starfire had finally gotten the idea that, even if the building was empty, blasting holes in the floor to get around was not the best thing to do.

Instead, she decided to head up the emergency staircase, flying upward past numerous flights of stairs, watching the floor numbers increase as she went.

"_30... 31... 32... 33... soon I will arrive at the 62nd floor, and I will be able to-"_

But when Starfire reached the 35th floor, she felt a powerful force hit her in the small of her back... and was soon slammed through a thick metal door leading into a hallway. She hit the wall hard, making a large crack in the plaster and drywall... and when she saw who'd attacked her, she let out a gasp.

"Construct...! But I thought you were higher up...!"

"Think again..." The replicant floated through the door and into the hallway, where he could see that Starfire was preparing to strike him with Starbolts. "You came alone? Not too smart..."

"I am not afraid of you!" Starfire shouted, bombarding Construct with balls of green energy that were easily blocked by his nanoshield. "I do not care if you can stop my attacks, I will still be victorious!"

Eschewing further energy attacks, Starfire lunged forward and threw a punch at Construct's head. He swung his body to the side, producing a wrist blade and slashing across the Tamaranian's shoulder. She winced slightly, but quickly recovered, kicking Construct hard in the chest and sending him flying back past several empty offices. He came to a stop next to a water cooler, which he picked up and threw at Starfire's head. She easily dodged it and flew forward again, ignoring the cut on her shoulder and swinging her foot at the side of Construct's head. The impact of the kick knocked the replicant's head to the side at a ninety-degree angle, and Starfire gasped, thinking she'd broken her opponent's neck.

"That's the sad thing about you," said Construct, smirking viciously as his head easily snapped back into place. "You're so afraid to go all out... if you actually killed someone, you'd never be able to get over it!"

"I do not believe in killing!" Starfire replied, clenching her fists.

"That's a lie," said Construct. "You come from a proud warrior race... I know all about your issues with the Gordanians. I bet you've killed at least a few of them before, haven't you?"

Starfire's legs began to tremble at the mention of her terrible past... and while it was true that her race had been at war with the Gordanians, she herself had never been forced to kill anyone... as badly as she wanted to at times. Being sold into slavery had been the final straw, and Starfire knew that her rage had likely driven her to the point where she was more than willing to use lethal force... but at that time in her life, in those moments when she'd been so hurt and so angry, she met the person she would later come to fall in love with...

She met Robin.

"I would never kill anyone, because _he _would never kill anyone... Robin is the strongest, bravest, kindest person I have ever known, and it is because of him that I vowed to never end the life of a sentient being!"

But while Starfire was talking, something else was happening... Construct had planted nanites inside the jug of water he'd thrown at Starfire, and after it had landed on the floor, all the nanites had crawled out... and were now forming into a silver slime that had begun wrapping itself around Starfire's legs. It hardened into an incredibly strong metal as soon as it made contact, and pinned Starfire's ankles together while continuing to advance up her body. When she saw what was happening, she began to struggle... but it was already too late.

"You can't escape, those nanites have been programmed to encase your body in an inescapable cocoon... and once that task is completed, they'll transform you into copies of themselves, your every atom transformed into another nanomachine... it's a very slow process, and from what I understand, very painful."

Horrified, Starfire tried to lunge at Construct, but her feet were pinned to the floor, and he was able to avoid her blows by taking a single step back. A few seconds later, the nanites had expanded up to Starfire's torso, and soon, her arms were pinned as well. Seeing that the end was near, the Tamaranian girl did the only thing she could...

She began to scream.

O-O-O

As Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy explored the eighth floor for any sign of the terminal Slade had planted to de-activate the nanomachines below, the changeling suddenly remembered that he'd forgotten a very important item... though its importance only seemed to be apparent to him.

"Raven! I forgot to give you back your cloak... I left it in one of the other buildings..."

"And this is important... why?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he did nearly kill me to keep it from falling on the ground," said Cyborg, also looking rather annoyed. "Forget it, BB. Raven's got plenty of cloaks back at the Tower... _and besides, she looks a lot better without it, anyway..._"

Raven immediately stopped in her tracks and shot Cyborg a very angry glare... and the mechanical Titan immediately realized his blunder.

"Heheheh, you forgot she can read thoughts, didn't ya, Cyborg?" asked Beast Boy, grinning as he looked back at his embarrassed friend.

"Both of you need to remember that we've still got work to do," said the half-demoness through clenched teeth. "That terminal is somewhere on this floor, and if we don't shut it down, Slade's nanomachines will overrun the city. We don't have much time."

The three Titans were walking through a large, open room that was separated into dozens of small offices by cubicle walls a bit taller than Raven and Beast Boy. Cyborg's scanner indicated that the computer with Slade's nanomachine deactivation program was somewhere nearby, but he was unable to get an exact location.

"Looks like Slade's got the terminal networked to the other computers in the room," said Cyborg, "which means that it's impossible for me to pinpoint which computer it's on unless we go in and run a search ourselves."

"Wait a minute," replied Raven. "If the computer that the de-activation program is on is networked to the other computers in the room, then wouldn't we be able to access the program by hacking into it from any one of these computers?"

"I suppose it's worth a try."

Cyborg walked into the cubicle immediately to his left, followed by Raven... neither of them realized that Beast Boy had disappeared from their sight just a few seconds ago. He was in the cubicle right next door... but the hand now pressed tightly over his mouth prevented him from calling out to his friends and telling them where he was. His arms were pinned to his sides by a metallic clamp wrapped around them just above his elbows... the clamp had a blinking red light on the front, indicating that it was some kind of mechanism... in this case, it was a mechanism that completely prevented the use of his powers.

He was being held tightly by a Sladebot that was sitting against the wall, keeping Beast Boy silenced while at the same time signaling to its two companions that there were two more Titans nearby. Unable to do anything but observe, Beast Boy could see that the two Sladebots in front of him, and likely the one keeping him quiet and docile, were different from any of the models he'd ever seen before... even the upgraded ones. The Sladebots were completely black, without any of the orange paneling that accompanied the originals. Their external armor appeared sheek and polished, and their eyes alternated from red and glowing to completely dark... in the dim light of the room, they appeared almost invisible when their eyes weren't illuminated.

"_I'll keep this one quiet," _said the first Sladebot, discussing its plans with the other two via a radio communication system built into their circuitry... a system that enabled them to speak to one another completely silently. _"Go take care of the two next door, and hurry... before they de-activate the terminal."_

The other two Sladebots nodded, disappearing from view. Beast Boy screamed as loudly as he could, but the metallic hand over his lips kept him completely silent, unable to warn the others of the danger about to befall them.

"All right, I managed to get into the system... apparently, the terminal that has the program on it is third from the right on the side of the room closest to the elevator," said Cyborg, his eyes focused on the screen. "But I can de-activate it from here."

As Cyborg spoke, one of the Sladebots, completely unbeknownst to the two Titans at the computer, slid a small, compact explosive device between them, before disappearing back into the shadows of the room. Focused on Cyborg's work, Raven was unable to concentrate enough to hear Beast Boy's frantic, desperate thoughts to her... but she did manage to remember the changeling on her own.

"_I wonder where Beast Boy's gotten-"_

In the ensuing explosion, Raven forgot about Beast Boy again.

O-O-O

Red X could hear a faint, muffled blast from where he was standing... and out of the corner of his eye, could see that it had originated from one of the lower floors of Library Tower.

"_That's where..."_

One look at Slade immediately returned X's attention to the moment at hand... Terra was unconscious, and he was still in the middle of the fight of his life... or rather, the fight _for _his life.

"_And Terra's too..."_

"Well, this certainly is familiar," Slade noted, a hint of amusement beginning to register in his voice. "Terra helpless, and you're the only one who can save her... I can see it in your eyes, even with that mask of yours... you're remembering everything."

"No... no, this isn't the same..." X stopped backing up and looked into Slade's eyes, ready to face him down, ready to protect Terra... this time, he wasn't going to lose. "This is where I beat you!"

Fighting off his fear again, X rushed forward at Slade, striking at his face. Seeing that his fist was going to be caught again, X diverted the blow, aiming his elbow downward and bringing it into the center of Slade's chest. This stunned Slade a bit, and allowed X to sweep his leg under his opponent's feet, bringing him quickly to the concrete floor. Instead of landing on his face, Slade pressed his hands to the ground and flipped himself upward, bringing his legs straight up and attempting to wrap them around X's neck. X avoided the grapple by stepping back, and Slade somersaulted to his feet, thrusting his arm forward and catching his opponent right in the jaw. The blow was strong, but not enough to stun X completely, and he was able to recover fast enough to fire off an explosive projectile, which hit Slade in the center of the chest. The explosion forced out a cry of pain from Slade, who stumbled back and began to cough, unable to see X running through the smoke to tackle him.

With a loud, primal yell, X threw his body into Slade at full force, bringing him down and knocking the air out of his lungs. Stunned, Slade was unable to defend himself from the barrage of blows that began raining down on his face, and once again, he could feel his mask beginning to crack.

"This... is... for every... time... you... hurt... Terra!" As lightning streaked through the sky, each punch came in rapid succession, and when X could see blood beginning to pour out from behind Slade's mask, his aggression grew more and more, blinding him from everything else. _"This is it... revenge is mine... I've got him...!!!"_

Disoriented but not yet beaten, Slade brought his knee up into Red X's gut, stopping the rain of blows for only a moment. As the thief brought back his fist to strike again, Slade slammed both of his hands into X's chest, knocking the thief onto his back and giving Slade the time he needed to stand back up.

"Delusional child... do you actually think... you can defeat me...?" Slade stood up at the same time as Red X, and for several moments, both of them stood facing one another as they struggled to catch their breath. "This isn't a game... I've played with you long enough..."

X could see lightning again... but this time, it wasn't forming in the sky. Instead, it was forming in Slade's hands, sparking around his palms and coalescing into glowing orbs that hovered a few inches away from the criminal's fingertips. Immediately, X raised up a shield to defend himself, but the ensuing stream of lightning punched right through it, slamming into X's chest and causing him to let out a loud scream as his entire body flared up with pain.

"The friction created by the nanites in my suit produces an incredible static charge... what you're feeling is millions of volts now coursing through your body... a blast as strong as the lightning generated by this storm. I was hoping I wouldn't have to resort to this, but you really have grown quite powerful... unfortunately, you were never, ever strong enough to defeat me."

By the time the blast had ended, X had collapsed to his knees, all the air having been sucked out of him. He looked down at the center of his chest, where his costume had been completely singed away, and a large, star-shaped burn had been formed on his bare skin. He gasped, not from the shock of seeing the burn, but in another attempt to get air back into his lungs... his heart was beating erratically, and there were moments when he thought it had stopped beating entirely.

"_There's no way... how was I supposed to fight him if he could do that...?"_

Slade circled around his defeated foe, his hands once again beginning to light up as silver electricity surged into them. Red X could only watch helplessly, trying desperately to catch even a single breath.

"Arrogance, Sanza, arrogance led you to challenge me, and look where it got you. Before I even set about to complete my revenge on Yancey Aylesworth, I had to realize that as powerful as I was, I was no match for the Teen Titans... so I began researching every bit of advanced technology as I could, looking for the one thing that could give me the power I needed to finally defeat them. Nanotechnology was the answer."

Another, much shorter but still painful blast from Slade forced out another scream from X, who appeared as if he could pass out at any moment. Slade continued to speak.

"Once I learned how to control them, I placed nanomachines in everything... my Sladebots, my weapons, my creatures... and my own body. Despite the risks, I soon came to love the idea of having billions of tiny robots inside my bloodstream... once I realized that the rewards completely justified those risks. My strength, my speed, my stamina, all of it increased tenfold... I even gained the ability to fly."

Slade stopped pacing, and was now standing a few feet in front of X, who was looking down at the ground... and then, he glanced over at Terra.

The blonde was just now beginning to stir, moaning quietly as she twitched on the floor, trying to gather the strength to get herself into a sitting position. X couldn't stop looking at her, couldn't stop thinking that once again, he'd failed her... and once Slade was through with him, Terra was certainly next.

"_I can't... I won't..." _X looked back up at Slade and could see the electricity gathering in both of his hands... he knew what was coming next. _"Terra... Terra..."_

All of his life, Sanza Salazar had wanted so desperately to protect the people that he loved. Seeing his sister imperiled by Mumbo had led him to steal the Red X suit, and seeing his sister _and _his mother imperiled by Slade had almost caused him to give it up. Even once he'd started wearing it again, the people he cared about continued to be placed in danger... first Cleo, and then Terra... and now, Terra again.

"_If this suit can't help me protect the people I love, it's worthless... just like me..."_

Every memory of the past came flooding back to him... watching his father die, seeing his mother and sister threatened by Sladebots, seeing Terra helpless in Chu-hui's mountain shrine... and with every memory that came, he kept telling himself 'no'...

"_No... I will not let this happen again... no... I can stop this... no... I can save her... no... I WILL NOT LET HER DIE!!!"_

Red X stood up again, and gathering up every bit of energy he had, focusing all the Xynothium in his suit into his hands, he clasped his fingers around Slade's just as Slade released his next electrical blast. Immediately, a stream of red lightning passed from X's body into Slade's, just as the silver electricity from Slade's body passed into X's.

The pain was unbearable for Red X, who began screaming loudly... but he refused to let go, even as he felt his skin being ripped apart, as he felt his muscles trembling, felt his heart beating out of his chest... but he knew that whatever pain he was feeling, Slade was feeling as well.

Terra was now wide awake, but the brightness of the energy flowing between Red X and Slade blinded her completely, though she could hear everything that was happening loud and clear... two loud, pained screams... one of them belonging to Slade, and the other belonging to...

"Sanza, no!"

The electricity could no longer be seen, the flashes now combining into one large orb of white light that consumed both X and Slade... the orb transformed into a column that lit up the sky for only a single second before disappearing entirely. The two beings that had once been standing at the center of the orb were now flying outward, their bodies hitting the rooftop and skidding until coming to a stop just a few feet away from the edge of the roof on opposite sides, Slade landing near the roof entrance.

The two lay motionless and still for several moments, but Terra immediately knew who'd gotten the worst of it... Red X, who didn't seem to be breathing even as Slade slowly began to come to his feet. Terra immediately knelt down beside X's body and removed the mask from his face... Sanza's eyes were open, albeit barely, and his breathing was very slow and shallow. Upon seeing that Sanza was alive, Terra began to sob, her eyes filling with tears as she leaned her head down on his chest.

"Sanza... oh god, Sanza... I thought... I thought..."

"Slade... he's getting up, Terra, he's getting up..."

Letting out a gasp, Terra looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, Slade was back on his feet, though he definitely looked as if he'd seen better days... he was lumbering toward Terra and Sanza, while smoke trailed from his body and a peculiar silver substance began flowing from several large cuts on his chest and legs.

"_The nanomachines... that shock killed all of them...!" _Slade stopped cold after taking just a few steps, raising his hands and attempting to form the lightning that he'd used on Red X before. When nothing happened, he tried to activate the jets at the bottom of his boots... but was unable to do so. "NO!"

"Yes..." Terra whispered, smiling as she looked back at Sanza. "The nanomachines... Slade can't use them anymore! The ones in his bloodstream, anyway..."

The news provoked a smile from Sanza, who sat up and tried to form an X in his left hand... a small spark of red electricity is all he received in return. He looked down at his other hand... and got the same result.

"_Oh, shit... the suit is... it's..."_

"Looks like both of us lost something we didn't come here to lose," remarked Slade, though the strain in his voice clearly indicated that he was still in no shape to fight. Seeing Slade's weakness, Terra stood up and levitated several chunks of concrete around herself... as much pain as she was in, she wasn't about to let Slade have his way with the now-powerless Sanza. "I don't think so, dear child... I have other business to attend to... and in the meantime, this city will still fall..."

As Slade turned and ran down the stairs leading off of the roof, Terra immediately tried to follow him... but when she saw Sanza struggling to stand, she quickly turned around and helped him up.

"Terra... you need to go after Slade... without my powers, I'm pretty much useless..." coughed Sanza, a look of disappointment on his face as he wiped a bit of blood from his lip. "Even _with_ my powers, I still couldn't beat-"

A quick kiss from Terra cut Sanza off in mid-sentence, but his bowed head afterward still indicated just how disappointed he was that he hadn't been able to beat Slade.

"Come on... we know where he's going..." said Terra, levitating a chunk of concrete underneath herself and Sanza. "...but we're not going after him... not yet."

As Terra began flying the two of them across the street to the nearby Library Tower, she began to wonder if it was really safe for Sanza to be coming with her without his powers... but when she looked down at the Xynothium reactor attached to his suit, he could see that it had already begun to give off a faint glow. It had been cracked, but it was still functional... Sanza would get his powers back, hopefully sooner rather than later.

"When Robin and I were down below the tower, we found out that there were five terminals that needed to be de-activated in order to shut off the nanomachines," said Terra, levitating the platform through a broken window on the 26th floor of the tower and setting herself and X down in the middle of a hallway. "Robin already stopped one, but I've got no idea where the others are..."

Terra's words brought a sudden burst of realization to X, who remembered something he'd seen earlier during his fight with Slade.

"There was an explosion... I think it was on the eighth floor... maybe we should go down and check it out."

"You think it might've been Robin, or one of the others?" asked Terra, racing with Red X toward a nearby elevator.

"I'm not sure, but..." As X was running, he could feel his strength finally beginning to return... though he had still had a tingling sensation throughout his body that wouldn't go away. _"I might not have been able to beat Slade, but... I was able to save Terra... now I have to help her and the others save the city..."_

O-O-O

A gloved hand emerged from the chasm in the center of the Library Tower lobby... then, a grappling hook, held by another gloved hand... a hand that belonged to Robin, who was exhausted as he emerged into the lobby, wiping a layer of sweat from his brow.

"_I should've realized that if I let Terra go, I'd have to climb my way back up here..."_

It had been an uphill all the way for Robin, who'd had to fight through every single last upgraded Sladebot that remained down in the base below... and after all that, a twenty-story climb back up to the lobby... he only hoped that his teammates had been able to de-activate a few of the terminals by now.

But as soon as Robin emerged, he heard a voice that sent a chill down his spine.

"It took you that long to escape from my base? Robin, I'm surprised..."

Looking up, Robin could see Slade standing in front of the elevator.

"Slade... I thought Sanza and Terra would be able to beat you... I should have known."

"You have far too much faith in your friends," replied Slade, "but if you wish to stop me, you will have to have faith that your friends can de-activate all of the terminals. I'll be on the roof if you wish to come after me..."

Slade disappeared into the elevator, which closed behind him before Robin could even make it halfway there. He began frantically pressing buttons to summon the elevator again, but stopped when he received a powerful shock, and saw the elevator's lights dim.

"Dammit... Slade must've broken the elevator to make sure I couldn't follow him up... guess I'll have to take the stairs..."

Without even thinking for a second that his friends might not be able to stop the nanomachines in time, Robin allowed his focus to remain entirely on Slade... he wasn't about to let the ruthlessly criminal mastermind get away with all he'd done... not again. He ran across the lobby until he reached the emergency stairs... and despite all the energy he'd exerted as he climbed back up from Slade's base beneath the tower, he began running up each and every flight of stairs, determined to stop Slade once and for all.

O-O-O

The explosive device planted by the Sladebot had left the eighth-floor office in shambles. Sparks and smoke came from shattered computers that littered the floor, piled amongst the rubble of destroyed cubicles and broken file cabinets. The blast had sent Cyborg flying across the room, his badly dented but still intact body landing atop a pile of tangled wires.

Raven hadn't been so lucky... the blast was more than powerful enough to blow her fragile body completely apart... had she not erected an energy shield at the last possible moment. She lay face-down on the floor, nearly unconscious but still breathing, her body having instantly healed any wounds she happened to have sustained. Groaning, she began to pick herself up... when she could hear a faint, muffled noise emanating from a pile of rubble nearby.

"...is that... Beast Boy?" Raven could see the pile of rubble beginning to stir... and when she cleared the debris away, her suspicions were confirmed. "Oh no..."

Lying on the floor, Beast Boy was looking up at Raven, his eyes wide with fear. A piece of duct tape had been placed over his lips to silence him, as the Sladebot who'd been keeping him quiet had to make a quick exit before the blast had occurred. The metal clamp that kept his arms pinned and his powers sealed was still in place, and though the cubicle wall had shielded him from the worst part of the blast, Raven could still see bruises and burns all over his body.

"I'm going to get this thing off of you, whatever it is," said Raven, kneeling down gently beside Beast Boy and concentrating her energy. "Azarath, metreon-"

Beast Boy's muffled shout was the only warning that Raven got before a powerful energy blast slammed into her chest, knocking her into the other side of the room. The three elite Sladebots, who'd taken shelter in a nearby bathroom, had emerged to destroy what was left of the Titans. As Raven skidded to a stop next to the large pile of wiring, Cyborg stood up and fired back with his own energy cannon, which was blocked by an invisible energy shield in front of the three Sladebots. While two of them continued moving toward Cyborg and Raven, one of them made its way toward the helpless Beast Boy, who could only look on as its energy cannon was pointed at his head.

"I don't think so," said Raven quietly, using her telekinesis to pull Beast Boy over by the clamp holding down his arms. When the Sladebot began firing at him, Raven used a dark energy barrier to repel the attacks. _"I have to get that thing off of him... his powers might be the only thing that can stop these guys..."_

As soon as Beast Boy was next to Raven, she concentrated all of the energy that she could into breaking the metallic clamp around his body... and within a few seconds, it had shattered into pieces. Beast Boy quickly reached up and peeled the tape from his lips, taking a sigh of relief before starting to thank Raven.

"Don't... I should've been paying more attention, anyway... you were grabbed while Cyborg and I were trying to hack into the computer terminal, right?"

While Beast Boy and Raven were talking, Cyborg was doing everything he could to stop the advancing Sladebots. He began to deploy missiles from his chest, but all this managed to do was knock the three robots back... the explosions harmlessly blocked by their shields, which were much more advanced than the ones used by Slade's previous model.

"It doesn't matter, if they hadn't grabbed me they might've taken you, and..."

An errant blast from one of the Sladebots' energy cannons slammed into the ground next to Raven and Beast Boy, blasting both of them away from one another. As soon as Beast Boy hit the ground, he transformed into a lion and lunged into the Sladebot on the left-hand side, tackling it hard into the ground and ripping his claws into the Sladebot's formidable armor. He was making a few minor scratches, but didn't seem to be doing much in the way of damage. Letting out a roar, Beast Boy tried again, only to be kicked away, landing in the entrance of an intact cubicle. The cubicle, and the computer inside, had been undamaged by the explosion... and the two cubicles next to it seemed to have escaped harm as well. Beast Boy quickly detransformed so that he could alert his teammates.

"Hey!" Beast Boy shouted, pointing at one of the computers. "Cyborg! I think this is the one you wanted to-"

"Not now, Beast Boy, I'm kinda busy here!" Cyborg was now on the ground, being held down by two of the Sladebots. The other had its attention focused squarely on Beast Boy, leaving Raven unattended.

"Keep them busy, I'll deactivate the terminal!" Raven quickly flew over to the cubicle, landing next to Beast Boy and walking past him to the computer. _"I just hope this'll be quick..."_

The Sladebot nearby lunged for both of them, but Beast Boy kept him busy, transforming into an elephant and using his powerful tusks to keep the bot at bay as Raven began the de-activation process.

"_This... ain't... much... fun!" _Cyborg was now being stretched out by the two Sladebots attacking him, with one tugging at his left arm, and another pulling at his right. _"They're gonna rip me in half!"_

Thinking quickly, Cyborg activated the missiles in his shoes, launching them into the chests of the Sladebots. The accompanying explosions, followed by the sensation of being released from the powerful grip he was in and dropped to the ground, indicated to Cyborg that something very good had just happened. He looked to his left, and then to his right... and saw the destroyed fragments of the Sladebots lying beside him on the ground.

"_What the... how did I just..."_

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was beginning to have serious trouble keeping the final Sladebot at bay. Even as an elephant, the Sladebot's powerful punches to his hard skin still hurt, and when one landed right between his eyes, he found himself detransformed and in a daze beside Raven, who had just completed the de-activation of the second terminal.

"_Two down... I hope Starfire was able to find the third..."_

Immediately, Raven looked down at Beast Boy, who she could see fall down next to her out of the corner of her eye as she was working. As soon as she turned, the Sladebot's hand wrapped tightly around her throat with enough force to break her neck. Her eyes widened, and she let out a silent gasp.

"RAVEN!" called Cyborg as he ran toward the cubicle. "Their shields don't work when they're separated from one another! Blast him now!"

But as Raven felt the bones in her neck start to snap, she became too afraid to focus her powers... and was unable to gather up enough strength to fire a blast. Cyborg raised up his cannon, knowing that he'd likely hit both Raven and the Sladebot... but risking injury to her was a small price to pay when her life was at stake.

As it turned out, Cyborg didn't have to. A loud roar came from Beast Boy, who had transformed into a fearsome creature... the same fierce beast that had appeared during the changeling's brief feud with Adonis. With one mighty tear, the Sladebot's arm was pulled from its body. Its grip on Raven's neck loosened immediately, releasing her and allowing her to fall to the floor with little more than an extremely bruised neck. The Sladebot tried to blast Beast Boy with its energy cannon, but fueled by rage, Beast Boy slammed his fist through the Sladebot's chest, ripping through its extremely strong armor and reducing it to little more than a pile of scrap metal.

Destroying the Sladebot brought little end to Beast Boy's fury... he smashed through the three remaining cubicles as Raven and Cyborg looked on in horror... but as soon as he turned toward them, he began to calm down... he took several deep breaths and fell to his knees... then, finally, he detransformed again. His costume now slightly ripped, he stared wide-eyed at Raven for several seconds before looking down at his hands and wondering what had just happened.

"Raven... that Sladebot, he was breaking your neck... I heard it, and then, I-"

"It's over..." Raven walked over to Beast Boy and helped him to his feet again, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We de-activated the terminal... the Sladebots are gone..."

Beast Boy still wasn't sure exactly what had happened, but when he saw his tattered clothing, he got a pretty good idea.

"...I changed into that _thing _again, didn't I?"

"Yeah, and you broke a whole bunch of computers in the process," said Cyborg, pointing at the destruction Beast Boy's brief rampage had caused. "But like Raven said, we de-activated the terminal, so no harm done."

"And you saved me... again," said Raven, her hand lowering from Beast Boy's shoulder. "Not only that, but you managed to control the beast within... you lost control for a few seconds, but as soon as you saw Cyborg and I, you brought your anger back down, and..."

"And I saved you..." said Beast Boy quietly, a smile appearing on his face.

"...yeah, you did," Raven replied, rolling her eyes a bit. "And by the way, that kiss-"

The elevator nearby opened up... but it didn't slide open. Rather, its doors were knocked down by a large piece of concrete... and when Terra and Red X emerged through them, it became clear that they hadn't come up the normal way.

"We got halfway down here before the elevator just... pooped out on us," said Terra.

"Fortunately, Terra here was able to fly us up," Red X added.

"Wait... I thought _you _could fly," said Cyborg, walking over to Red X. "So why didn't you just grab Terra and fly yourselves up here?"

"I... I can't fly anymore," said Red X, "or use any of my other gadgets. It's only temporary, so don't get any ideas."

Though Red X was still trying to project a rather arrogant front, Raven could immediately see through it... he was still unsure, and after a quick look through his mind, she could see why. He and Terra had waged an unsuccessful battle with Slade, and now, it seemed that with his powers diminished, he was as unconfident as ever.

"Were you two able to deactivate any terminals?" asked Cyborg. Terra quickly shook her head.

"Sanza and I spent most of the last half-hour fighting against Slade... we just now got here... and since Sanza saw that some kind of bomb went off here, we knew to come down here. Are you guys okay?"

"My armor's a little dinged, but it's nothin' I can't fix once we get back to the Tower," said Cyborg.

"And the Beastman is still doin' just fine... just got a few bumps and bruises and a slightly worn out uniform, but it's all good..." said Beast Boy, trying to maintain his cool exterior around Terra... or at least make her laugh. "What about you guys?"

"Yeah... Sanza, you've got a nasty burn on your chest, what's up with-"

"It's nothing, Cyborg, it's..." Red X turned away from Cyborg, facing the window and wrapping his arms tightly around his chest to cover up the most prominent of the wounds he'd received in his battle with Slade. _"Dammit... I can't do this... I don't know when my powers will come back, and... even if they do, what if we run into Slade again?"_

Raven walked over to X, taking him aside for a moment and leading him over to the window. He tried to pull away, but Raven firmly held onto his arm, not letting him go.

"...Sanza, do you remember when I tried to tell you to have faith?" Raven asked. "Right before we left for Los Angeles, you and I were talking, and-"

"Yeah, I do remember," Red X replied, "and I don't have any idea what the hell you were talking about. What does someone like you know about faith?"

"...when you and Terra were fighting Slade, just now... what did you think would happen?"

"I thought... I thought..." X clenched his fists tightly, not wanting to admit to Raven that he honestly believed he and Terra would die. But already, his mind had betrayed him, and Raven was able to sense exactly how he felt.

"You thought you were going to die. But you didn't die, did you?"

"...no..."

"And at Chu-hui's mountain, when Slade had you and Terra at his mercy, you thought you were going to die then. But what happened?" 

"I got... lucky," X replied, placing his hand against the window and looking out at the sky. "Terra stood up to Slade, and Slade ran..."

X looked back over at Terra, who was standing with Cyborg and Beast Boy. The three of them seemed to be looking down at their Titan communicators... and Raven quickly focused X's attention back on her. She knew he needed to hear this, and she wasn't going to let either of them get distracted, not this time.

"You need to have faith that no matter what happens, no matter how bad things seem... that you, and Terra, and everyone else you love, will be able to survive. If you do your best, even if you don't win... you will still survive, and that there's nothing to be ashamed of."

"...you don't actually believe that, do you?"

Raven knew that Red X was right to be skeptical... to hear such an optimistic statement coming from _her_? But her ordeal with Trigon had taught her something... even the impossible was possible with her and her friends... even though there were times that she was afraid, even though there were times when she _knew _she wouldn't survive... deep down in her heart, she still had to have hope. And always, _always_, she had to believe in herself.

"Sanza, I believe that with all of my heart. And the only way you're going to be strong enough to protect Terra and your family is if you believe it too. I know Terra's tried to tell you this before."

"...well, yeah, but I thought she was just... I thought she was just saying it because she loved me."

"She probably didn't express it the right way, but listen... faith is knowing that no matter what you think is going to happen, you know that you'll still be all right once it's over. It's okay to be scared, but it's not okay to let that fear consume you. It took me a long time to learn that, Sanza... I hope you learn it now."

Raven walked away and rejoined the others, leaving Red X standing by the window to ponder Raven's words. He continued to look up in the sky for several more seconds before walking back over to the group... who'd just gotten through talking with Robin.

"Sanza," said Terra, putting her communicator back on her waist as she began informing X what Robin had told her and the others. "Robin just called us to say that he's going up to the 35th floor... he was heading to the roof to take on Slade, but when he tried to contact Starfire, he didn't receive an answer... something's happened to her."

"Apparently, Construct's on the 35th floor," said Cyborg. "Raven, Beast Boy, and me are going up to the 50th floor to deactivate that terminal... if you and Terra go to the 62nd floor, and Robin and Starfire take out Construct, then the nanomachines will be deactivated for good, and all we'll have to worry about is Slade."

"...we're not going to help Starfire?" asked Beast Boy, shooting a puzzled look over at Cyborg. "If she's been attacked by Construct, then-"

"Trust me, Robin's more than tough enough to help Starfire," Red X said, though he did feel a bit of worry for her, as did the Titans. "The important thing right now is deactivating those terminals, because if those nanomachines come up here, then..."

"...there won't be a Starfire left to protect," said Raven, finishing X's sentence for him.

"Come on, we'd better fly up there..." said Terra, running over to the elevator shaft and waiting for Red X to follow her before lifting up a piece of concrete beneath both of them. "It's a long way to the 62nd floor."

X nodded in agreement, and before long, they were en route to the 62nd floor, heading up via Terra's concrete platform. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven followed them. They already had their destination, the 50th floor, squarely in mind.

"So," whispered Beast Boy to Raven as the group made their way to the elevator shaft. "About that kiss..."

"It wasn't... terrible," Raven replied, though she didn't smile as she picked up Cyborg and began flying up the elevator shaft. Letting out a frustrated yell, Beast Boy transformed into an eagle and followed them up, still having no idea exactly how Raven felt about the kiss.

"_Not... terrible?" _thought Beast Boy. _"That means it still could've been horrible! Or nasty! Or bad! Or... I guess it could've been mediocre... which isn't TOTALLY bad..."_

O-O-O

As soon as Robin realized that Starfire wasn't responding to her communicator, a wave of thoughts began flooding his mind... none of them good. When he learned that she'd engaged Construct on her own, even more troublesome thoughts came to him.

"_Construct's a highly refined weapon... even when we all fought him at once, he was still able to give us a good fight... who knows what might happen if he attacked Starfire?"_

Robin had to try and remember that Starfire was strong... she'd fought difficult battles before, and she'd managed to win. Maybe she'd already beaten Construct, maybe she'd already deactivated the terminal contained in his body... but if she'd beaten him, then why didn't she respond when he called her?

Finally, Robin reached the 35th floor. He could already see that the door leading inside had been knocked down, and quickly rushed into the hallway, calling Starfire's name.

He found her almost immediately.

"I figured that if I waited here with Starfire long enough, one of you would try to show up and help her..."

Construct taunted Robin as he stood next to a large, silver pillar... and about five feet up from the bottom of that pillar, a pair of green eyes stared straight into Robin's... about the only thing left uncovered by a slowly expanding mass of nanomaterial. The entirety of Starfire's body below her neck had already been encased and rendered totally invisible, while just above her chin, another band of impenetrable silver metal had wrapped around Starfire's mouth, transforming her cries for help into a series of muted squeaks. Her nose and eyes were left uncovered at the moment, but another band of material around her forehead kept her head firmly locked in place as the nanites slowly multiplied to encase the rest of her body.

"STARFIRE!" Robin immediately withdrew his bo staff, while Construct simply pointed one of his wrist blades where Starfire's neck would be underneath the pillar.

"This blade cuts through nanomaterial, and were I to move it just a few inches forward, well... your precious Starfire would be losing her head a lot sooner than she would by simply having it converted into more nanites. Of course, that might be a bit less painful for her, but the choice is yours to make."

Horrified, Robin clenched his fingers tightly around his staff, taking a single step forward and shifting his focus to Construct.

"No one... threatens Starfire... and gets away with it..." Through clenched teeth, Robin was trying to inform his teammate's captor that there would be severe consequences if he didn't let Starfire go... but it was obvious even to Robin that Construct held all the cards. _"Dammit... why didn't I get here sooner?"_

"I mean it, you take another step forward and she's history... the nanomachines haven't started converting her body yet, perhaps if you drop your weapons and surrender, we might be able to negotiate some kind of release... or maybe I'll just kill you both at the same time. Either way, you won't save Starfire by attacking me."

Starfire couldn't stop herself from crying a single tear... this was her fault, all of it... she could see it in Robin's eyes, he'd be willing to do anything to save her.

"_No... no, you cannot endanger yourself for me! Go after Slade, leave me here!" _Beneath the layers of thick synthetic metal, Starfire tried to struggle free, but she couldn't move her arms even a fraction of an inch... and with her head immobile, she couldn't aim her eye lasers either. _"I must think of some way... I must not let Robin be placed in danger... I must be strong!"_

From the day Starfire had first met Robin, he'd always been by her side, determined to protect her... it wasn't supposed to be like this, _she _was the strong one, _she _was the one with superpowers, and yet she couldn't keep herself from being captured over and over again. It had almost jeopardized the most beautiful moment of Starfire's life... when she'd finally been able to convince Robin that she wouldn't be in danger if the two were a couple.

But now, it seemed, she was in danger... and it was her own fault.

"I..." Robin's hand trembled as he held out his staff, preparing to drop it to the ground. He knew that with Construct so close to Starfire, able to end her life at a moment's notice, trying to save her would be a futile endeavor. _"Starfire... forgive me."_

Starfire's eyes began to glow, and one final time, she attempted to burst free of her prison. Gathering all of her strength, all of the righteous fury that enabled her to be so amazingly powerful, she threw out her arms... and completely shattered the metallic prison encasing her body. Hundreds of shards of nanomaterial flew outward and slammed into the walls, instantly softening into goo before seeping through the floor, deactivated and useless. Now free, Starfire turned around and punched the stunned Construct in the face, knocking his body into the wall and forcing him to retract his blade.

"Starfire!" Surprised and delighted, Robin ran over to Starfire, retracting his wrist blade and wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace. "...how did you get out of-"

"I was angry, Robin... so angry that he would try to use me against you... just like so many others have done in the past..." Her eyes still glowing, Starfire looked down at Construct, who was just beginning to get up from the floor. "Robin, you must go... you must defeat Slade, I will deal with Construct here."

"But Starfire, when I left you alone before..." Leaving Starfire alone to deal with Construct once had almost cost her her life... leaving again could be an equally fatal mistake. But Starfire wasn't worried in the least... she _knew _that she could beat Construct, if only because she knew she could never let Robin down.

"You must trust me, Robin... you said it yourself, I am the strongest girl you have ever known... and you also think that it is cool when I shoot Starbolts!"

Her lips briefly curving into a warm smile, Starfire turned to Robin and took his hands in hers, gripping them tightly and trying to reassure him that she would be able to handle Construct on her own. And in that moment, Robin's trust in Starfire's abilities returned... if she could trust him to defeat Slade, then he could trust her to take care of Construct. In fact, he knew that _he _was the one who had the more difficult task.

"All right, Starfire... I know you can beat Construct on your own. I believe in you..."

And with those warm words, Robin ran back to the emergency staircase, leaving Starfire alone again with Construct... who immediately brought his blade down at the Tamaranian's head.

Without a word, Starfire caught the blade in her hand... and with determination in her eyes, she fired a Starbolt right into Construct's face.

O-O-O

X and Terra arrived on the 62nd floor, immediately heading left from the elevator and conducting a thorough search of every office nearby. Without the computer knowhow that Cyborg and Raven possessed, each search was a relatively time-consuming affair... and on the fifth computer, frustration began to set in.

"There's no way to know if the computers we're searching even have the program on them," groaned X, stepping back from the desk and placing his hands behind his head. "I don't want to bring this up, but... did Slade teach you anything about hacking into computers?"

The mention of Slade brought a brief tremble from Terra, but she quickly shook her head, understanding why X had asked her such a question.

"All Slade did was teach me how to fight... I mean, I got into the Tower's computer security system to let those Sladebots in, but I had the password, so it's not like I had to hack into anything."

"Damn," X replied. "And because of my suit, I've never actually _had _to hack into anything... did you see Robin when he de-activated that first terminal?"

"Well... no, actually..." Another tremble went through Terra's body as she remembered what she'd been doing when Robin hacked into that first computer... she'd been looking at Aylesworth, his mangled and mutilated body ravaged by nanomachines, screaming and pleading for the Titans to put him out of his misery. "I..."

X could tell that Terra was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second, and he quickly placed a hand on her shoulder, thinking that his mention of Slade was what had stirred up all these fresh fears in Terra's mind.

"Hey... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything... but you don't work for Slade anymore... and you don't have to feel guilty about-"

"It wasn't him, Sanza... it was Aylesworth... what Slade did to him, just..." Terra couldn't take it anymore, and she fell to her knees, putting her face into her hands. "I should've killed him, Sanza... he was suffering so much..."

"_Dammit... this isn't getting us anywhere..." _And though Red X offered Terra a comforting hug, he was still thinking about what needed to be done... that terminal was somewhere on this floor, and he and Terra needed to deactivated it before Slade's nanomachines were unleashed on a helpless city. "We've both seen a lot of messed up stuff, haven't we?"

Terra nodded, choking out a sob as she looked up into X's eyes. As she allowed him to help her up, she thought back to everything that had happened in the past few weeks... how many close calls she'd had with death, and how close her friends had come to that fate as well.

"_Maybe that's the _real _reason I didn't want to be a Titan anymore... I've been living my whole life like this, I've seen all of these terrible things... I want to help people, but... if Robin hadn't been there to stop me from finishing Aylesworth off, I'd have killed him, and then the nanomachines would've swarmed us..."_

"Come on... all we have to do is find and deactivate that terminal..." X began to walk out of the office with Terra, but suddenly, two elite Sladebots crashed through the door, their energy cannons pointed right at the couple. _"...shit..."_

And before X and Terra could defend themselves, the Sladebots opened fire.

O-O-O

Starfire's brief surge of offense against Construct didn't last long. Soon, she found herself at the receiving end of several sharp slashes from the replicant's blade, cutting into her skin in several places and leaving a particularly nasty wound across her midriff. Fortunately, he hadn't tried to deploy any more nanites to encase her... but that didn't mean that she was completely out of danger.

"So, are you wishing you'd told Robin to stay?" Construct shouted, repeatedly swiping at Starfire with long metal blades extending from both of his wrists. "I'll carve you to pieces and send you to him as a gift..."

Angrily, Starfire managed to bring her foot up and kick Construct in the stomach, knocking him away and momentarily stopping his assault. She fired a flurry of Starbolts at him, but the blasts were repelled by an energy shield that appeared at the last moment in front of Construct's body... he laughed, then retracted his blades and fired an electrical blast at Starfire, knocking her onto her back.

"Face it, I've got too many weapons..." Construct materialized an axe, throwing it at Starfire's head as she tried to get up. She raised her arm to block it, screaming as the blade sliced into her skin as the axe flew past. The cut wasn't very deep, but it was another indication to Starfire that she needed to do something... and do it quickly. "Your energy blasts are useless, and I won't let you touch me again!"

Starfire fired her eye lasers at Construct, only managing to hit him in the shoulder, an attack that caused him little more than a minor burn. As nanites rushed in to heal the wound, Construct formed another axe, then after he'd thrown it at Starfire, formed another one and threw that as well. Soon, Starfire was constantly being forced to dodge a limitless supply of axes that the nanites in Construct's body generated at the rate of one every second. He began to laugh as Starfire rolled back and forth on the ground, dodging the axes with some barely missing her.

"_I must stop him from throwing those at me... or I will never be able to strike him myself!" _Finally managing to get to her feet, Starfire rolled out of the way of one of the axes, pointing her hand at Construct's head and firing a Starbolt, which he blocked with his shield before resuming his attack. _"He stopped throwing axes at me when he generated that shield! Perhaps if I can force him to keep it up constantly..."_

Starfire began firing more Starbolts, not stopping even as the last axe that Construct threw whizzed just past her, cutting off a few strands of her hair. As she continued to launch Starbolt after Starbolt, Construct's attack had stopped entirely, though he began to laugh as Starfire's attacks were deflected by his shield.

"How dumb are you? I already told you, that isn't going to work!"

Keeping up her Starbolt assault with one hand, Starfire reached down and used her other hand to pick one of Construct's axes up from the floor. Then, keeping her eyes focused entirely on Construct, she threw the axe with all of her might. Construct saw it coming out of the corner of his eye, but as soon as he turned to stop it, it sliced through his forehead after passing right through his nanotech energy barrier.

"...w...what...?" Construct stumbled back, his eyes now glancing at the axe embedded in his forehead. Starfire let out a brief gasp, but when she realized that the axe hadn't killed her opponent, she ran over to Construct as quickly as she could, aiming a punch right at his chest. As nanites from Construct's body rushed to repair the wound in his skull, his midsection was left depleted... and Starfire found that her fist went right through, plunging straight into Construct's nanotech heart. She heard him scream loudly, and then, his arms fell limp at his sides. Starfire began to pull out her arm, but she could feel a strange sensation... billions of nanites were crawling around her hand and forearm, a tingling sensation that began slowly drawing the energy from her body.

"_I do not think I have killed him... perhaps I should pull my arm out...?" _Her fingers wrapped around Construct's heart, which was strikingly similar to that of a human... though as her grip tightened, the outer layers began to disintegrate, and the Tamaranian found that she was holding something else... her fingers felt something almost similar to wiring. _"I know that he is not human, but... he is still sentient... and somewhere within him is one of the terminals that I need to deactivate..."_

Gripping the strange wires with all of her might, Starfire tugged as hard as she could... and almost instantly, Construct's head lifted back up. His eyes stared straight into hers, and Starfire let out a gasp. Construct began to speak... but in a strange, mechanical voice completely unlike the one she'd heard him use during their battle.

"Terminal... deactivated..." came the voice, just before Construct's body transformed into silver goo, falling apart around Starfire's hand. Even the wiring fell apart, and Starfire soon realized that she was standing in a puddle of de-activated nanites.

"I am... victorious?" Starfire blinked, and then began to smile. "I am victorious!"

Floating happily into the air, Starfire rejoiced, knowing that she'd done exactly what Robin had expected of her... she hadn't let him down, and she'd kept her promise.

"_Now I need to assist my friends..."_

O-O-O

As soon as Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven had reached the 50th floor, they had been met by three elite Sladebots similar to the ones they'd dispatched more than forty floors below. Now, the group was running down a long hallway, dodging blasts from the Sladebots' energy weapons while futilely trying to blast through their shields.

"Cyborg, you said that their shields are deactivated when they're separated from one another?" Raven shouted, looking back at the Sladebots as she sent a desk flying out of a nearby office in an attempt to trip one of them up. The Sladebot leapt over the desk and kept firing, nearly hitting Raven in the back of her legs.

"Yeah, and you don't have to separate 'em very much... if they're not right next to each other, their shields don't work."

"_Sounds like Slade sacrificed defense for firepower..." _thought Raven. _"Even the previous model of upgraded Sladebots could use their shields by themselves... all we have to do is hit them with something that will separate them..."_

So far, Raven's attempts to hit them with office furniture had been unsuccessful... Beast Boy decided that it would be his turn to try and strike back.

"Cyborg, Raven, you guys keep running... I think I can hold them off!" With that, Beast Boy transformed into a tyrannosaurus, letting out a powerful roar. Several blasts from the Sladebots' weapons immediately slammed into his body, causing him a great deal of pain but not budging him from his current spot... he blocked off the hallway, allowing his teammates to escape.

"_Go after them," _said one of the Sladebots to its two comrades. _"I don't need my shield, it won't repel a physical attack."_

The Sladebots nodded in affirmation, turning around and running together down another hallway, hoping to catch up with Cyborg and Raven at another area on the floor. The two Titans had reluctantly left Beast Boy behind, turning a corner and heading toward the office where Cyborg's scanner indicated the deactivation terminal to be.

"It's in the second room on the right, we need to get there before those Sladebots catch up," said Cyborg, running past one room and turning toward the second. When he looked back, he could see that Raven had stopped a few feet behind him, and seemed to be pondering whether or not to go back and help Beast Boy, or stay with Cyborg to hack into the terminal. "Rae, what are you doing?"

"Beast Boy's back there... I know he's pretty tough, but so is that Sladebot... I'm not sure-"

The two Sladebots who'd left their partner behind were now storming down the hallway, blasting Raven and Cyborg with their weapons and causing nearby walls to collapse in their wake. Gasping, Raven ran out into the middle of the hallway and put up a shield to protect herself.

"Cyborg, go!" Raven shouted, ordering him into the office while she stayed behind to engage the pair of Sladebots. "Azarath, metreon..."

O-O-O

As Robin ran up countless flights of stairs on his way to the roof, he couldn't get Slade out of his mind.

"_This is it... I can't let Slade escape again... this has to be our final battle..."_

All the terrible things Slade had done in the past... his psychological torment of Sanza, Terra, and Robin himself... his threats toward Robin's friends, his threats toward Jump City... and now, his plot to destroy Los Angeles, all stemming from a vendetta against the one remaining man responsible for the crippling of his son.

"_He'd kill ten million people just to get revenge on one man... anyone that evil and depraved can't be allowed to roam free..."_

Robin passed the 50th floor, then the 62nd... where he knew his friends were still fighting desperately to halt Slade's plans. He ascended the final few flights of stairs, made it to the roof access door... it wasn't locked, but it didn't matter... there wasn't anything that would keep Robin from Slade now.

He threw open the door and was immediately confronted by a litany of lights... the lightning still flashing overhead, punctuating the driving rain... lights from the city's other skyscrapers, and the lights of the Library Tower itself... as well as dozens of helicopters hovering overhead, their own lights shining down on the roof. Police helicopters had already attempted to attack Slade, but their bullets were easily dodged, and every single man they'd sent down to the roof had easily been knocked unconscious. Slade himself stood at the other side of the roof, staring straight ahead, waiting for Robin's arrival.

"I thought it would take you longer... I suppose I've underestimated you, just as I underestimated Sanza."

Robin extended his staff again, walked toward Slade with hatred in his eyes.

"This is over, Slade... there's no escape..."

"On the contrary, Robin. You forget, this city is about to be destroyed, and this very building is at the epicenter of that destruction. But I've already got my escape route mapped... see these choppers overhead? As soon as I finish you, I'll grapple up to one of them, knock out the pilot, and fly away with a bird's-eye view of everything I've wrought."

"Your plan has two problems..." said Robin, stopping in the center of the roof so that he could inform Slade about just how foolish his grand plan truly was. "First, there won't _be _any destruction, because my friends-"

"Your friends are _worthless_, Robin. I've dispatched eight of my finest creations into the building... elite Sladebots, designed to be as intelligent and as strong as myself... they will rip your teammates apart."

"My teammates already destroyed three of them," Robin replied, and he could see, just for a moment, a look of shock on Slade's face. "And right now, Starfire is taking care of Construct. Face it, Slade, your plan isn't going to work... it'll fail, just like all the others."

Robin was starting to tire of talking... and he knew that he didn't have much time, as Aylesworth's death could come at any moment, triggering a rush of nanomachine fury that would be impossible for he and his friends to escape. If he was going to defeat Slade once and for all, he'd have to do it right now.

"Regardless of what happens below, I know one thing for certain... you're not going to survive!" And with that, Slade charged forward, his fist raised as he launched his first punch at the Boy Wonder. Fueled by adrenaline, Robin effortlessly vaulted over Slade's head, spinning around and swinging his staff at his opponent's back. The staff connected, and Slade was knocked forward, kicking back at Robin as he regained his balance. Robin ducked under the kick, grabbing Slade's foot and using it to gain leverage as he threw a kick of his own, hitting Slade in the head and sending him rolling forward across the floor.

Slade recovered quickly, reaching down to his belt and pulling out several smokebombs, which he threw down in front of Robin. The smokebombs formed a screen that blinded the Titan leader, and the next thing he saw was Slade kicking down at him, striking him between the eyes and sending him flying across the roof. Robin tumbled back several feet, looking up to see Slade running at him again. He planted his staff into the ground and leapt into the air, spinning himself around in a kick that Slade dodged by leaping back.

Robin picked up his staff and swung at Slade's head, only to have the blow blocked against the side of his right arm. As Robin swung again, Slade ducked and reached up, grabbing Robin's staff and pulling hard to yank it away from him.

"I'm still stronger than you..." Slade said menacingly, striking Robin in the face with another kick and knocking him onto his back. Once he'd done that, he threw Robin's staff off the side of the building, forcing the Boy Wonder to watch helplessly as his primary weapon fell more than a thousand feet to the ground below.

"_I don't need my staff to beat him..." _Robin thought, reaching down to his grappling hook as Slade lunged at him. He fired the hook, wrapping a thin cable around Slade's arms and pinning them to his sides, which stopped any attack that the criminal had planned on making. As Slade struggled to get free, Robin hopped to his feet and slammed his fist hard into Slade's face, stunning him as another bright flash of lightning illuminated the sky. _"Yes!"_

Slade stumbled back, but managed to break free of the cables that pinned his arms. He punched at Robin at the same time that the Titan leader punched back at him, and the two began exchanging a series of blows, neither of them able to land anything significant on the other.

"With every second that we fight, this city comes closer to destruction..." said Slade, thrusting his fist at Robin's face only to have the blow deflected so that it just barely brushed Robin's shoulder. "And your friends come closer to death."

"No!" Robin replied, kicking up at Slade's ribs. Slade dodged the blow to the side, grabbing at Robin's leg, which he quickly moved away. "My friends have never failed before, and they'll save this city!"

The brawl gradually shifted to the center of the roof, and after Slade and Robin managed to block each other's kicks and punches several more times, they leapt back from one another, their eyes locking in a momentary staredown.

"The only reason I placed the de-activating mechanisms in the first place was to safeguard against any kind of glitch in the system... so that I had a way to stop the chain reaction if I discovered it would get out of hand. It's strange... the only possible instrument of my undoing is also causing you and your friends to gravitate here... so close to the nanotechnological chain reaction that they won't have any chance to escape once it begins!"

"They'll stop it! And I'll stop you!" Leaping over the unconscious body of one of the cops that Slade had beaten earlier, Robin threw another powerful kick at Slade's chest. Slade blocked the kick against his hand, then threw out his elbow, catching Robin at the tip of his nose. The blow stunned Robin, who stumbled back, blood trickling out of one of his nostrils... and Slade responded quickly, striking with a punch that once again landed squarely in the center of Robin's forehead. With stars in his eyes, Robin fell back even more... giving Slade the opportunity to land a brutal uppercut that sent the Titan leader flying. He landed hard next to the fallen police officer, rolling over once before coming to a stop on his face, fading in and out of consciousness. _"Damn... he's so quick..."_

As Robin lay prostrate on the ground, Slade kicked him in the side, knocking him briefly into the air again before coming back down, this time on his back. Robin let out a groan, and blood began pouring from his mouth, mixing with the blood coming down from his nose. He tried to get up, but he was still in a daze, and the loud claps of thunder overhead weren't making it any better.

"Even Sanza put up more of a fight than you," said Slade with contempt, kicking Robin in the side again and causing him to roll over once more. "This is beginning to feel like a waste of my time."

Robin looked up into the sky, his pounding head the least of his troubles as he realized what could happen if he lost to Slade.

"_He'll come back... he'll do this again, and again... my friends can fight him, but... they can't stop him forever... I have to end this now... for Terra, for Sanza, for Raven and Cyborg and Beast Boy... and for Starfire..."_

Robin's heart was determined to win, but his body wasn't cooperating... fatigue had already set in, and no matter how much he knew he needed to get up, he just couldn't muster the strength.

And Slade kicked him again.

O-O-O

Raven's barrier kept the Sladebots' energy blasts at bay, but now she'd been backed all the way into the hallway where Beast Boy was... and presumably, he was too distracted with his own fight against a Sladebot to worry about anything else.

"_Come on, Raven... you need to do this... just stall a little bit more, until Cyborg de-activates that terminal..."_

Just then, Raven could feel something... or rather, someone, brushing against her side. She looked over her shoulder and saw Beast Boy, now detransformed, facing down the Sladebot from before, which continued to advance toward him.

"Hey Raven... this guy's stronger than a t-rex... I tried to bite him and he chipped my teeth!"

"That's good to know," said Raven, "but I've got troubles of my own..."

When Raven looked forward again, she could see that there were no longer two Sladebots coming after her... instead, there was one, as the other had gone back for Cyborg. Seeing her golden opportunity, Raven fired an energy blast at the Sladebot coming toward her... but instead of being destroyed, the Sladebot simply walked through it as if it wasn't even there. Raven let out a gasp.

"_How did that just... how did that happen?" _As Raven tried to think about why her energy attack had been ineffective, Beast Boy was kicked hard in the face by the other Sladebot, a kick so powerful that it nearly knocked him unconscious... but he stayed where he was, and he remained standing. "Beast Boy, transform into something else! Transform into that creature!"

Dismissing Raven's suggestion, Beast Boy transformed into an ostrich instead. He launched a kick at the Sladebot's head, but it easily stopped the kick by grabbing his leg. Then, it knocked him into the wall. Beast Boy immediately detransformed, slumping against the wall as Raven began to engage another of the Sladebots in hand-to-hand combat. She was easily beaten, and kicked violently back, landing next to Beast Boy with her head next to his legs. She sat up quickly, and as the Sladebot lunged down at her, tried firing off another burst of dark energy... only to have this blast, just like the previous one, pass right through.

"_Raven!" _Remembering what Raven had told him, Beast Boy tried to focus his anger, tried to channel his rage into manifesting his most fearsome form... _"I'm not gonna let these Sladebots hurt you... I'll rip them apart!"_

The Sladebot lifted him up by the throat, and the Sladebot next to Raven lifted her up as well.

"_Not again... you're not going to hurt me again..." _Hearing Beast Boy's struggles next to her, and remembering her own fear as her neck once again started to crack under the Sladebot's vice-like grip, Raven clenched her teeth and channeled her own anger... and her eyes began to glow red. "I'll hurt you first!"

At the same time, Beast Boy could see Raven in danger once more, and finally found the rage he needed to unleash the beast within. He transformed, breaking the Sladebot's grasp, and with his powerful claw, ripped the Sladebot to pieces. Raven blasted the Sladebot that was holding her with a large, focused beam of magic, a beam that overcame the Sladebot's protections against dark energy and easily destroyed it. Raven and the transformed Beast Boy both fell to the ground, breathing quickly in order to catch their breath. They looked at one another, then stood up, Raven's red eyes meeting Beast Boy's fierce, monstrous stare. They blinked, then both of them began to return to normal... Raven's anger faded, and her eyes returned to their normal shade of dark blue, while Beast Boy once again returned to his human form.

"I guess... we both got kinda out of control there..." said Beast Boy quietly, giving Raven a nervous smile as he looked away.

"I think we both handled ourselves pretty well," Raven replied.

"Yeah, but... transforming into that thing twice really wore me out, so... I just hope we don't have to fight any more of those Sladebots."

Nearby, Cyborg had just completed the process of deactivating the fourth terminal.

"Aw yeah, only one more to go before-" Cyborg turned around and came face-to-face with the barrel of the Sladebot's energy weapon. "...oh no."

A powerful blast from Starfire's eye lasers ripped open the Sladebot's side, causing it to explode violently and shower Cyborg with smoke and shrapnel. He peered through the smoke and saw the Tamaranian girl standing in the doorway, a smile on her face.

"I hope that I did not damage you, but I saw no other way to-"

"Starfire!" Beast Boy shouted, running over with Raven to rejoin his friend. "You're okay!"

"Why would I not be? ...oh, yes, the battle with Construct... it went very well! And hopefully, if Sanza and Terra have deactivated the final terminal, the nanomachines have already been defeated!"

The three Titans were glad to reunite with Starfire, but now, all of them knew that they still had a job to do... Robin was up on the roof fighting Slade, and Red X and Terra were still on the 62nd floor... and considering that stopping the imminent nanomachine attack was the most important priority, Cyborg quickly decided to lead the group up to that floor... much to Starfire's intense disappointment.

"_I am sure that Robin will be fine without me..." _thought Starfire, following her friends back to the open elevator shaft. _"He believed in me, and now I must believe in him... but I am still so very, very worried..."_

O-O-O

By the time Robin finally managed to get up, Slade had kicked him all the way over to the other side of the roof. The stairs leading back down were just a few short feet away, but Robin wasn't thinking about running even for a second. As exhausted as he was, he knew that defeating Slade was what he had to do.

"I'm amazed that you're still standing," said Slade, methodically walking toward Robin even as he produced a pair of Bird-a-rangs from his utility belt. "Those toys won't save you."

Robin threw them anyway, watching as Slade blocked them against his arms, sending them flying off into the night. Robin produced two more Bird-a-rangs, but instead of throwing them at Slade's head, he threw them down at Slade's ankles... and they were dodged just as easily when their intended target simply leapt over them.

"Don't you understand, Robin? It's pointless to fight me."

Robin next took out a pair of freeze bombs, throwing them down at Slade's feet and creating a large sheet of ice that nearly encased him. Slade easily broke the ice, punching through it and sending large, jagged shards of it skidding across the rooftop, some of them toward Robin. By now, Slade was standing just a few feet away, and with one more step, he was close enough to grab Robin by the throat. The Boy Wonder was unable to resist, and soon, Slade was hoisting him high in the air, over the edge of the roof, able to look straight down at the ground below.

"And now, Robin... I end this futile crusade of yours..."

Thrashing violently, Robin slammed his fist several times into the side of Slade's face, doing little more than annoy him as he abruptly released Robin's neck from his grasp. He fell for only a moment before grabbing onto the edge of the roof with one hand and pulling out a Bird-a-rang with the other. Before Slade could stomp his fingers, Robin slashed across Slade's ankle, forcing out a loud scream from the villain, who immediately lowered his foot back onto the roof. Robin then took the Bird-a-rang and slammed it down into Slade's foot as hard as he could, piercing through the steel toe of his shoe and impaling the flesh underneath. Slade howled in pain, and Robin managed to flip himself back up onto the roof, kicking Slade hard in the chest and knocking him onto his back.

"You... won't... ever... beat me..." gasped Robin, still catching his breath as Slade pulled the Bird-a-rang, its tip now dripping with blood, out of his foot. "No matter how hard you try... I won't lose..."

Screaming in rage, Slade charged at Robin, who bravely stood his ground, crouching down into a fighting stance and beckoning Slade forward. One way or another, the battle would end... but Robin wouldn't let it end until he was the victor... no matter how much of a beating he took in the process.

O-O-O

With Red X's powers still useless, he and Terra were forced to flee from the two Sladebots, who were undeterred by Terra's repeated attempts to smash them with pieces of concrete from the building's support columns.

"Terra, I think we need to split up...!" X's intentions were to use himself as bait to draw the two Sladebots away, enabling Terra to set a trap for them... but Terra, who knew that X was mostly useless without his powers, had other ideas.

"I agree! I'll lure the Sladebots away until you can use your powers again!"

Terra stopped running and held out her arms, putting a large wall of concrete between herself and the pair of elite Sladebots. Red X also stopped, turning around and trying to see exactly what Terra was doing.

"Terra, what are you-"

"Just hide somewhere until you get your powers back, I can handle-" The two Sladebots punched through the wall easily, tackling Terra to the ground. One of them stayed to hold her down, while the other charged forward, running right at Red X.

"TERRA!"

"Sanza, just go!" Terra fought to escape the Sladebot's grasp, but it was far too strong for her, and, keeping one hand around her throat, used the other to pick up a small fragment of the concrete barrier Terra had tried to create to stop its advance. "GO!"

"_I don't think so..." _X held his ground, looking the other Sladebot right in the eyes as it ran toward him._ "Have faith... have faith... I'm gonna live and so is Terra... come on, come on, come on...!!!"_

After unsuccessfully trying to activate an explosive X, the thief managed to slide between the Sladebot's legs, standing up behind it and trying again. This time, he managed to fire out several Xs, right as the Sladebot turned around. The combined blast caused a large explosion, but the Sladebot remained standing... though it was now dented in several places, and sparks were emerging from its neck and shoulder.

"Sanza!" shouted Terra excitedly. "You got your powers back!"

She didn't have long to celebrate, because the Sladebot on top of her was now bringing a rock down on her head... but before it could smash Terra's brains out, a large metallic X slammed into its body, sending it flying down the hall. It ended up stuck against the wall, its arms and legs pinned by the corners of the X.

"Terra... we fight together, remember?" X said, bending down and helping Terra up from the floor. Though one of the Sladebots was now pinned in place, the other was still functional, and it had raised up its energy cannon to fire at the couple. The blast was blocked against a Xynothium energy shield that X was able to form, and as it started to fire again, Terra buried it in a pile of the concrete rubble still littering the hallway. "Good shot!"

Terra smiled proudly, but once again, the celebration was cut short, as the Sladebot X had pinned earlier had just broken free, and was now charging down the hall to attack its two targets.

"I'll handle this one," said X, stepping in front of Terra and preparing to dispatch the Sladebot with a blast of Xynothium electricity. He charged up and prepared to fire, but instead of sending out a burst of lightning, his arm was enveloped by red sparks, and he fell to one knee, letting out a cry of pain. "Damn...!!"

The light emitting from the Xynothium reactor had once again faded... energy appeared to be seeping out through the crack made in its surface. When X realized that his gadgets might be gone for good, he let out an angry yell, prompting Terra to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's just go... we need to find that terminal, and-"

"You go... I'll stay," said X, clenching his fists and preparing to stand down the Sladebot. "I know you said we fight together, but... this is just something I've gotta do... that terminal's not gonna shut itself off."

"Sanza, without your powers, you can't-"

The Sladebot punched down at X's head, a blow that the thief was able to dodge by ducking out of the way. He charged forward, throwing a shoulder block into the Sladebot's chest and knocking it back, if only slightly.

"Yes I can... Terra, go take care of the terminal!"

Reluctantly, Terra ran off down the hallway, hoping that X would be able to defeat the elite Sladebot... and that there weren't any more of them lurking in the shadows.

"_And on top of all that... I still don't have a clue where the terminal is... or how to de-activate it!"_

O-O-O

For several minutes, Robin and Slade fought back and forth across the roof, the Titan leader taking every blow that Slade dealt him and responding with one of his own. He blocked out his pain, ignored his bruises and the blood still pouring down his face... he stayed on his feet, not letting himself be knocked down even once, refusing to show any sign of weakness.

Still, the repeated blows from Slade's fists and feet were taking their toll, and Robin's counter-attacks were getting slower every time. He began to see two of Slade, his eyes struggling to maintain their focus after Robin sustained repeated blows to his head. But he continued to keep at Slade, matching him blow-for-blow, and even landing a spinning kick that knocked Slade to one knee.

Slade quickly recovered from the kick, charging at Robin once more, who barely managed to avoid being tackled to the ground. Robin leapt out of the way, and Slade spun to face him, only to be hit with a flash bomb squarely between the eyes. The flash bomb, combined with a bright, nearby burst of lightning, sent an overwhelming painful sensation through Slade's skull. He let out a horrific scream, placed his hands over his face and staggered back... and Robin continued to come. Five furious blows, punches to Slade's head and chest that the criminal was unable to block, or even to see. Slade staggered back to the edge of the roof, finally lowering his hand from his eyes in time to make out a large blur coming straight at him.

He ducked just in time... Robin flew past and continued on to the edge of the roof. For a single, tantalyzing moment, he balanced at the precipice, one foot in the air, while another lay halfway over the edge... he teetered, and Slade staggered toward him... but, still blinded by the flash bomb, he didn't know whether Robin was struggling to keep from falling over, or poised for another attack... and he hesitated. It gave Robin the time he needed to maintain his balance, and cost Slade the best chance he had yet of winning the fight.

Shaking a bit from his brush with death, Robin quickly recovered, charging forward at Slade and preparing another punch. This time, Slade was ready, his vision nearly back to 100. He ducked under Robin's blow and elbowed him in the gut, then grabbed the stunned Robin by the throat and tossed him away.

"The clock is ticking, Robin..." Slade was still limping slightly, his foot injured from the Bird-a-rang attack... it slowed him down, giving the agile Robin a bit of an advantage... but of course, the Boy Wonder still had to overcome the disparity in strength. "Your friends are going to fail."

Robin threw himself at Slade once more, battering him numerous times with repeated punches to the midsection. After letting himself get beaten back to the center of the roof, Slade began blocking Robin's punches, but he couldn't block the next attack... a leg sweep that sent him off his feet and face-first to the ground. Robin capitalized on the attack, getting on top of Slade and grabbing his left arm, wrenching it hard behind his back in an attempt to dislocate his shoulder.

"Give up!" shouted Robin, his rage punctuated by another flash of lightning. "What gives you the right to attack this city, or ANY city? What gives you the right to hurt my friends?"

As Slade tried to wrench out of Robin's grasp, Robin tugged even harder, and Slade let out a yell... his shoulder began to rip out of its joint, and Robin smelled blood, increasing the pressure on Slade's arm. As Robin was sitting on the small of Slade's back, he was unable to use his legs to kick his opponent off of him... and despite his superior strength, the hold that Robin had him in took all of his leverage away. It was becoming clear to Slade that he simply wasn't going to be able to overpower the Titan leader... not without getting into his head first.

"You're right, Robin... you're right that there's nothing that justifies my actions... not the injury to my son, not the fact that my wife and daughter both rejected me in anger afterwards... you're right, Robin, you're absolutely right."

Robin wasn't in any mood to listen to Slade's sob stories... whatever calamities had befallen the criminal mastermind during his lifetime were no excuse for all the suffering he'd caused. Robin wrenched even harder on Slade's shoulder, but this time, the criminal gritted his teeth, not allowing himself to scream.

"You can't... imagine what it's been like... not seeing my children... it's why I tried to create my own... tried to go after you, and Terra, and Sanza as well..."

"I could've killed the man responsible for the deaths of my family... but I spared his life, because killing him would have made me just as evil!" Robin didn't loosen his grip, but he didn't tighten it either... he was wrenching on Slade's arm with everything he had, trying to render it useless, trying to eliminate the advantage that Slade's physical strength gave him. "But you... you've killed hundreds, maybe thousands of people... you even sacrificed the world to save yourself! You're nothing but pure evil... you're a sadistic, maniacal psychopath... I HATE YOU!"

Blinded by rage, Robin didn't see Slade's other hand beginning to reach into his utility belt... Robin simply kept his focus on Slade's left arm, and once he felt the muscles around his shoulder finally begin to tear, his lips curved into what was almost a sadistic smile.

"Good, Robin... now harness that hatred..." Despite the fact that he was experiencing more pain than he'd ever experienced in his life, Slade was undeterred... his healing factor would repair his shoulder, but for now, he wanted to keep Robin as angry as possible. "I'm sure you'll hate me even more once your friends are dead."

His eyes narrowing even more, Robin gave one final, powerful tug at Slade's arm... not noticing the explosive device attached to his ribs. Just before he could pull Slade's shoulder completely out of place, the device went off, blasting Robin across the roof and freeing Slade, who stood up with his left arm hanging slightly limp at his side. Robin hit the concrete hard, bounced up again, and skidded over to the edge of the roof, his body shaking violently... his midsection in extreme pain. The device had given him a serious second-degree burn, a small, localized third-degree burn, and had fractured two of his ribs, letting him know in an instant about how bad Terra had felt on that night when she'd staggered back into Titans Tower.

While Robin was languishing in a semi-conscious state, Slade popped his dislocated shoulder back into place and began walking toward Robin again.

"One little kick, that's all it will take..." Slade said to himself, believing that the blast had immediately rendered Robin unconscious. It hadn't, but the Titan leader still wasn't moving, save for an occasional twitch as he rolled painfully onto his back. _"He won't get up again."_

Seeing Slade coming toward him, Robin slowly, painfully picked himself up from the ground, letting out a scream as the burn in his side began to flare up, and his broken ribs tore at his nerves. He looked up at Slade, who had broken out into a run... and once again, he had to push all of the pain to the back of his mind. He clenched his right fist and waited until Slade was at the perfect distance... then threw his arm forward in one fierce, desperate punch.

The blow was so hard that it broke two of Robin's knuckles, but what it also did was knock Slade back a couple of steps, giving Robin enough time to run around to the side, away from the roof's edge. Slade immediately turned to face him, and soon, the other effect of Robin's punch had become apparent. The small crack in his mask that he'd sustained in his earlier battle with Sanza and Terra had begun to expand again... then, more cracks began to form. In only a few seconds, the entire mask was lined with small fractures... and as another flash of lightning burst through the sky, the mask shattered and fell away.

It revealed the scarred face of a man whose twisted actions and desire for revenge had aged him beyond his years. His hair had turned gray, and his craggy features were lined with numerous wrinkles... and for the first time, Robin could clearly see the scar where his right eye used to be.

"So, this is the true face of Slade..." Robin said quietly, clutching his ribs as he once again backed toward the edge of the roof. The unmasked Slade began walking toward him, his lips curving into a smile as he realized just how injured his opponent really was.

"The last thing you see before you die," replied Slade, taking several slow, deliberate steps toward Robin, who got into the best defensive stance that he could, preparing to make one final stand against the triumphant villain. "That little punch of yours was a nice effort, but it's the last blow you'll land on me."

Rain battered the Titan's badly beaten body as he watched Slade make those final steps... he clenched his fists, realizing exactly what he would have to do.

"_Slade's face is exposed... if I can land a good enough punch, it could be a knockout blow... but I'm going to have to be quick..."_

Slade was ready for such a punch, and he knew exactly where to strike at Robin. One good blow to the chest near his injured ribs would stun him, and another would send him plummeting off the side of the building. He lunged forward, going low and bringing up his leg to strike at Robin's torso... Robin craned up, preparing to go high but immediately receiving a sharp pain from his side.

"_I can't... I can't go that high up, not with broken ribs...!" _As Slade got ready to throw a punch, Robin did the only thing he could... he fell back, his head dangling over the edge of the roof, while the rest of his body remained on solid ground. When he saw Slade's punch miss, and saw him beginning to fall forward, he kicked up his legs, into Slade's stomach... and scooped up, throwing the villain backward over his head.

Two things happened. Slade went flying over the edge of the roof... and he let out a scream. He reached down to his grappling hook and launched it at the side of the building... but he was falling too far and too fast, and it fell just a few inches short. Turning around, Robin looked out and saw Slade plummeting hundreds of feet, his extended grappling hook now falling with him... Slade fell, and fell, and fell, and the police and reporters gathered below quickly backed up, forming a circle of exposed pavement that Slade crashed into at more than a hundred miles per hour.

No healing factor could save him from a fall like that. Robin looked down, wide-eyed, the rain blocking his view of the fallen Slade... and he began to stand up, clutching his side, still racked in intense pain. He stepped back from the edge of the roof, looking up into the sky, then straight ahead. He hadn't intended for one second to kill Slade... he simply reacted in the best way he could think of, and...

"_What's done is done," _thought Robin, turning away from the edge and walking toward the center of the roof. _"At least he'll never hurt anyone again."_

A faint rumbling could be felt beneath Robin's feet. It started him, knocking him over. An earthquake? No... something else... the rumbling felt as if it was coming straight up from the building itself, from something tearing away at the tower's very foundations...

"_The nanomachines!" _Horrified, Robin rushed for the stairway leading down from the roof. _"The others must not have been able to find the computers in time!"_

O-O-O

Terra had found the computer, but had not yet been able to access the program that controlled the final de-activation switch... and as she felt the rumble from below, she knew she was running out of time.

"_Come on, Terra... you already almost destroyed one city, you're not gonna destroy this one!" _Terra's fingers raced across the keyboard, her eyes scanning the screen, desperately searching for the sequence that would bring up the deactivation controls.

Sixty-two stories below, trillions of nanomachines were churning up through the chasm like lava through a volcano, consuming Aylesworth first, then Slade's base... then, as it neared the surface, the Library Tower parking garage and every car inside. The nanites tunneled through the basement levels, just seconds away from the lobby... there would be no stopping them.

Unless Terra could navigate her way through the computer programs... but she knew she was running out of time. She tried to push back her fears and all of her past failures... she wasn't Terra the traitor, or Terra, the apprentice to Slade... she was Terra, Teen Titan, true friend, and the only one who could save Los Angeles from total annihilation.

"_This isn't just your life on the line, it's your friends' lives too! It's Sanza's life! And it's everyone in Los Angeles!" _Sweat and tears poured down Terra's face, but finally, she managed to bring up something that at least _looked _like the nanomachine deactivation program... and the words on the screen confirmed it. "YES!"

With one click of the mouse, the screen displayed a message: "Terminal 5 of 5 Deactivated. Nanite Self-Replication Sequence Terminated."

The rumbling stopped. The nanites had expanded to coat the bottom few inches of the lobby in glimmering, silver dust... but had stopped there. Terra let out a loud sigh, leaning back in her chair and smiling from ear to ear.

"Thank god..." she whispered, suddenly realizing what Maria meant about knowing what it felt like to have someone watching over her. _"Yeah, definitely got some help from the big guy upstairs for that one..."_

Before Terra could think back to Sanza, four of her other friends rushed to the doorway. Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg were all prepared to fight off elite Sladebots... but when they saw Terra at the computer, and the accompanying message about the nanomachines being deactivated, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Terra... you did it!" shouted Beast Boy, rushing over to give his friend a hug. She stood up from the chair and giggled as Beast Boy embraced her, then looked over at the other Titans, who were equally overjoyed to see that Terra had accomplished the mission.

"That's our little rock 'n roller," said Cyborg, giving Terra a high-five.

"Wait a minute..." Starfire said quietly, the smile disappearing from her face. "Where is Sanza?"

Terra let out a loud gasp.

O-O-O

Despite the loss of his powers, Red X had still delivered a sound beating to the elite Sladebot... using all the martial arts moves that Chu-hui had taught him, he now had the sparking Sladebot on its knees, preparing to deliver the knockout blow.

"This one's for Chu-hui," said X, kicking the Sladebot's head cleanly off its shoulders. As the wreckage of the bot clattered to the ground, the four Titans rushed into the hallway, just in time to see X's triumph. "Hey, guys... you missed it. I turned this Sladebot into scrap metal."

"Great job," said Terra, running over to give X a hug. "I knew you had it in you all along..."

"...then why were you so worried on the way over here?" asked Raven, prompting Terra to give her an annoyed look.

"Hey, kid, leave her alone..." X replied, pointing his hand at Raven's face. "I can still..."

Sparks began emitting from the thief's hand once again, and he drew it back, wincing in pain.

"Dammit... the reactor's still busted, I think all the power's drained out of it..." Letting out a frustrated sigh, X removed his mask and looked down at his still-sparking hand. "Maybe for good this time..."

"We'll worry about that later," said Cyborg, a serious look appearing on his face. "Where's Robin?"

"He must still be fighting Slade!" Starfire shouted, her eyes widening with worry. "Come on, we must go up to the roof and-"

Starfire's fears were immediately assuaged when she and the other Titans saw their leader. He was limping down the hallway, but the smile on his face indicated that he'd been victorious over Slade... though Starfire wasn't smiling when she saw the wounds that had been inflicted on Robin in the process. She flew over and started to hug him, but one look at the burn on his side gave her cause for alarm.

"My goodness, Robin, what-"

"It's nothing Raven can't heal..." Robin choked out, still managing to smile. "And it looks like you guys stopped the nanomachines..."

"Yes, we have... and it appears that you were victorious over Slade... were you?" Starfire still couldn't quite bring herself to smile, not until she knew for sure. "Or were you able to-"

"It's over, Starfire... Slade's gone... this time for good..."

Starfire didn't need to know the details, and she immediately leaned in to kiss Robin. Robin closed his eyes and responded in kind, but just before their lips touched, the building began to shake again.

"What the hell?" shouted Sanza, nearly knocked off his feet by the force of the shaking. "I thought we stopped the nanomachines!"

"We did, but... oh boy, this is bad..." Cyborg's voice took on a frantic tone as he looked down at the scanner on his arm. "The building's foundation is badly damaged! The nanomachines ate it almost completely away, this building's coming down!"

As bad as that sounded, Sanza wasn't worried... the building had been evacuated, and as long as he and the others could get out in time, even a catastrophic collapse wouldn't hurt anyone... though the destruction of the tallest building on the West Coast would certainly be a significant psychological blow to a lot of people.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out of here and far enough away so that-"

"We can't let this building collapse!" Robin shouted. "There are thousands of cops and reporters down there, the building's been evacuated but if it comes down, those people will be buried alive!"

"...that isn't good," said Beast Boy.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Cyborg asked. "According to my scanner, the building is coming down in six minutes!"

"_Maybe I could hold it up with my powers, but..." _Raven bowed her head. _"With its foundation destroyed, it's still coming down sooner or later, and I can't hold it up forever..."_

"I can keep it from falling down!"

All of the Titans looked over at Terra, while Sanza tried to think about just how she would be able to repair the building's shattered foundation.

"I can rebuild the tower's foundations and keep it up indefinitely..."

"...you mean you're going to stay here until-"

"No, Sanza, I won't have to stay, I just have to strengthen the building's foundation enough for it to stay up until people can come in to repair it..."

"Five minutes, y'all! If we're gonna do this, we gotta do it _now_!"

"Cyborg's right, everybody to the window!"

As Raven picked up Cyborg, Starfire picked up Robin, and Beast Boy transformed into an eagle, Terra stayed behind... and Sanza stayed with her.

"Sanza, what are you doing?" asked Terra, running over to the elevator shaft nearby. "You need to go, there's nothing you can do!"

But Sanza wouldn't take no for an answer... he followed Terra, and as the geomancer lifted up a platform to take her down to the lobby, Sanza climbed on with her. He pointed down to the reactor on his suit, which had begun to glow again... if only very faintly.

"We fight together..."

Terra was still skeptical as she lowered X and herself down to the lobby... she realized that if she was unsuccessful in restoring the building's foundations, this was as much of a suicide mission as stopping the volcano was nearly a year ago... and she didn't want the person she loved to be any part of it.

"_Dammit, Sanza... this is something I have to do alone..."_

But when the two stepped out into the lobby, it was clear that Terra wouldn't be able to complete this task alone at all. The chasm she'd created had been completely plugged and covered over with nanoscopic dust.

"You need me to turn some of this into concrete that you can use to rebuild the foundation," said Sanza, kneeling down on the ground and sending waves of Xynothium powered electricity through the deactivated nanites.

"_Because the nanites transformed the foundation into trillions of copies of themselves..." _thought Terra, her eyes widening. _"How could I have been so stupid...?!"_

The building began to shake even more... only four minutes remained until its catastrophic collapse.

O-O-O

As soon as the Titans reached the ground, they rushed toward the large contingent of police and reporters that were surrounding the building, desperately trying to get them to evacuate before it was too late. The reporters would have none of it, shoving their microphones into the Titans' faces and trying to ask them questions about the battle.

"What's your secret for defeating Slade?"

"How did you shut off the nanomachines?"

"Are you still dating Lindsay Lohan?"

Letting out a scream of rage, Robin took a swing at one of the cameramen, only to have Starfire stay his hand.

"It's like they don't even care that their lives are in danger!" screamed Robin in an exasperated tone.

"Guys, I just realized something," said Cyborg. "If the nanomachines turned the building's foundation into gray goo, where's Terra going to get the concrete that she's planning to use to rebuild it?"

The Titans looked at one another for a moment... then Raven broke out in a mad dash toward the front of the building.

Just before she could reach the door, a huge chunk from the building's roof fell down toward her. She stepped back and watched in horror as the large piece of steel and concrete blocked off the only way into the building.

"Azarath, metreon, zinthos!" Raven tried to move the piece of concrete away, but it wouldn't budge. Breathing heavily, Raven fell to one knee... she was exhausted, as exhausted as all of the other Titans... Terra and Sanza were on their own.

O-O-O

Just before the X suit's reactor faded again, Sanza had managed to force a small portion of the nanomachines in the chasm below to transform into concrete. It was scattered throughout in small patches, but Terra hoped that she'd be able to bring it to the surface fast enough to save the building. Only a minute and a half remained.

"Sanza..." Terra said, kneeling down at the center of the chasm and beginning to focus her energy. "You can... go now..."

Sanza looked up toward the front door, which seemed to be blocked off by debris. He looked back over at Terra, who began moving the debris away from the door. Sanza grabbed her wrist.

"No. You need to focus on rebuilding this tower's foundation."

"Sanza-!"

"Terra, focus!"

Fighting off tears, Terra closed her eyes and began to concentrate as much as she could, sending out waves of energy from her body into the ground below. Immediately, the microscopic clumps of concrete below began to converge on one another, gravitating together and making larger and larger chunks. She continued to focus, moving the large chunks up below the bottom of the building and fusing them with the tower... but as the building shook harder and harder, and pieces of the ceiling started coming down, Terra once again lost her nerve.

It was then that Sanza's arms wrapped tightly around her.

"Have faith, Terra... we're going to make it... we're going to survive..." Sanza's voice was trembling, he was scared... as scared as Terra was. Terra was drawing on the last of her energy to form a new foundation for the building. She was trembling violently, and she could feel Sanza trembling against her, his arms wrapping even tighter around her waist.

"Sanza..." she whispered, fighting back the tears, "I... I..."

"I know... I'm scared too, but I know you can do this... because _you _know you can do this, Terra..."

The building shook even more, the lobby started to sink... Terra pushed upward, trying to use the strength of the new foundation she'd almost completed to keep the bottom floors of the building from pancaking and collapsing... she began to scream, and Sanza held onto her even tighter.

"I... I CAN'T!"

"YES YOU CAN, TERRA! YOU'RE STRONG, YOU'RE THE STRONGEST PERSON I'VE EVER MET! YOU'RE STRONGER THAN ME!"

Terra could feel her body beginning to rip apart under the stress, she was feeling the same sensation that she felt when she'd stopped the volcano... every last ounce of her power now being used to keep Library Tower from collapsing. She stood up, and Sanza stood up with her, leaning his head on her shoulder as tears began streaming down his face.

"I LOVE YOU!!!"

Sanza's final words of encouragement were drowned out by Terra's scream as she began giving off an incredible golden glow... a glow so bright that it shined from every window in the tower.

"_I know we're going to make it..."_

O-O-O

A magnificant cloud of dust emerged from the bottom floors of the tower, at the same time that Terra's blinding light burst forth through the windows. The Titans, and the police and reporters that had gathered nearby all looked away, the flash too bright for them to see.

Then, there was an incredible silence. Library Tower still stood, one second, two seconds, three seconds after Cyborg predicted its collapse. He looked down at his scanner.

"Terra did it..." he said quietly, blinking repeatedly. "She... she completely rebuilt the foundation... the parking garage too... the building's saved..."

The Titans all focused their eyes on the front of the building. The debris blocking the entrance hadn't moved... Terra could move it easily, couldn't she?

"Maybe she's exerted too much energy in saving the building," said Raven. "She'll climb out one of the windows..."

"Not if she passed out," said Beast Boy, "or..."

The changeling let out a gasp. The last time Terra had exerted so much energy at once, she'd been changed into a statue... thoughts of that fate immediately flooded back into Beast Boy's mind, and with no Crisis Crystal to restore her...

"Come on, let's try to get that big rock out of the way!" Cyborg rushed toward the building, gesturing for Starfire to follow him. Several dozen police officers, and even a few of the reporters rushed over to help as well.

But as they neared the massive rock, something amazing happened... it began to move on its own. It slid back, revealing two dust-covered figures slowly emerging from the building... one of them lowering her hand.

"...Terra!!" Beast Boy's cry immediately brought the geomancer's head up from its lowered position... her beautiful blue eyes immediately locked on his, and she gave him a smile. Her arm was draped around Sanza's shoulder, and she was walking with him out of the building, the two supporting each other's exhausted frames as they emerged together.

"Beast Boy..." Terra looked at him, and then at the other Titans... all of them, even Raven, were smiling. "Guys, I'm okay... and Sa-"

Sanza's hand quickly lifted up to cover Terra's mouth. He looked up and saw the reporters, hundreds of them, pointing their cameras in his direction.

"Terra," whispered Sanza, lowering his hand from Terra's lips. "Don't reveal my identity on national TV..."

"Uh, Sanza..." said Beast Boy, pointing at the unmasked thief's face. "You uh... sorta already did that."

Sanza looked up at the cameras again... and then down at his right hand, still tightly clutching the Red X mask. He reached up and felt his face... feeling only bare skin.

"_...well, this is absolutely fucking wonderful."_

But in spite of the incredible shock and dismay that Sanza was feeling, he heard only laughter from the Titans... and even from Terra, who seemed to be laughing loudest of all. It seemed that she didn't understand the ramifications of his identity being revealed... all of those crimes he'd committed... he was in serious trouble!

Still... he couldn't help but start laughing as well... for no apparent reason other than the fact that finally, it was over. Slade was beaten, he was safe... and Terra was safe as well.

But this was still going to make any future thievery extremely difficult...

O-O-O

"So, Sanza..."

Sixteen hours later, Sanza was back home in the living room of his family's apartment. His mother and sister had watched the entire thing... the attack of the Omega Ternions on the city, Robin's fight against Slade... and Sanza and Terra's triumphant emergence from Library Tower. Now, his mother was all too eager to discuss the ramifications of his face being revealed on national television. Of course, her worry that her son might be arrested was gone... as five minutes after Sanza had emerged from the building, it had been reported that because he had helped to save Los Angeles, the president had immediately given Sanza a pardon for all the crimes he'd committed as Red X. Of course, this pardon didn't extend to any _future _crimes.

"Now are you going to stop all of this stealing, and sneaking, and-"

"Sanza!"

Maddy rushed in from the kitchen, having deposited her backpack on the table. She ran into the living room and over to Sanza, all to eager to hear about everything that had happened in Los Angeles.

"You gotta tell me, everyone at school kept asking me about you, but I didn't have anything to tell them because I didn't see you at all last night, or this morning!"

"Last night I was in Los Angeles, and this morning I was sleeping..." Sanza said. "I slept in 'til noon."

"Well, tell me now then!"

It was apparent to Sanza that his little sister's appetite for information was insatiable, and she wasn't going to leave him alone until he told her about every single little thing he'd done in Los Angeles. So, he walked over to the easy chair nearby and sat down, taking a deep breath and immediately launching into a long story.

His sister listened to every word.

O-O-O

Back at the Tower, Terra was seated at the foot of her bed, staring straight out the window. Slade was finally defeated, the threat to Los Angeles was over... and hopefully, she and Sanza would never be terrified by another wicked madman again. She'd saved the day... saved millions of people, and this time, not from something that she'd caused herself.

She was in perfect control of her powers, and she was a valuable member of the Teen Titans... she'd regained everyone's trust and friendship, including Raven's... but still, something didn't feel right to her about where her life was going. Something was missing... she'd found true love, but she still wanted more.

"_I know I can help people, but... still, I..."_

The door slid open, and Terra looked over... it was Beast Boy, walking over to see how Terra was doing. She smiled and slid over, allowing him to sit next to her... but the changeling could tell that something was bothering his friend.

"What's up? We kicked Slade's butt and all, but-"

"Where are the others?"

"...Robin's in the infirmary, Starfire's sleeping in the chair next to his bed, Cyborg's recharging, and Raven's in her room."

The mention of Raven's name brought a smile to Beast Boy's face that he couldn't contain... and he decided to tell Terra why.

"She... she agreed to go out with me tomorrow night! She wasn't smiling when she said it, but I know she wanted to go... we're going to this cafe downtown, it's kind of a creepy place, but... being with Raven will make it totally worthwhile. I just hope she doesn't walk out on me after the first joke."

"Aw, Raven's got a better sense of humor than that..." Terra replied. "I'm glad you and Raven are... getting along better."

"Yeah..." The smile disappeared from Beast Boy's face as he remembered what he'd seen when he came in. "Terra, you okay?"

"It's... complicated, Beast Boy. My powers are stronger than ever, but... for some reason, I still don't really feel like being a Teen Titan anymore... it's nothing against you guys, I _love _you guys... and I still want to be your friend, but..."

Beast Boy's hand clenched tightly around Terra's, and she reciprocated the gesture, her fingers squeezing tightly.

"That week when I went to Murakami High School... I... I really liked it... I liked not having to worry about being a superhero, I liked not having to worry about Slade or anything like that... I know Slade's gone now, but... for some reason, that just makes me want to... want to live a normal life even more."

Terra's hand continued to grip Beast Boy's hand tightly, and he placed his other hand on hers as well, looking up into her eyes and smiling.

"You know what I said, Terra... it's your life... you can always choose..."

"I know, Beast Boy... that's why I'm glad I got to talk to you... do you think the others will-"

"Of course, Terra," Beast Boy replied. He stood up from the bed, keeping his hands tightly clenched with Terra's. "You'll always have friends here."

With tears streaking down her face, Terra stood up and hugged Beast Boy tightly, her gloved hands gently stroking his back.

"Thank you, Beast Boy..." she whispered, an indelible smile etched on her face. "Thank you so much..."

O-O-O

That night, Terra was eating dinner not at Titans' Tower, but in the kitchen of the Salazars' apartment. Just before leaving, she'd told the others about her decision to leave the team... and they were very supportive, even allowing Terra to keep her communicator. Robin had told her that he would give her as much time as she needed to think about her decision, and that she could come back to live at Titans Tower... but Terra didn't want to stay there if she wasn't a member of the team. She'd be willing to visit, of course... but she was fully prepared to sleep in her cave until she found a permanent place to stay.

"Unacceptable," said Maria, setting her fork down into a large bowl of salad. "You're not going to sleep in a cave, there's absolutely no way."

"Yeah, there are snakes and scorpions out there," Maddy commented. "I know you said you spent a lot of time sleeping in caves before, but-"

"I'll find an apartment eventually..." said Terra, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, once I get a job and everything..."

"I don't know..." Sanza replied. "It's hard to live on minimum wage."

"How would you know?" Maddy blurted. "You lazy bum, you've never held a job in your life!"

"Neither have you!" Sanza shouted back, pointing his salad fork at Maddy.

"Because I'm twelve!"

"How about this apartment?" Maria said, causing Terra to let out a gasp. "You could live in the ground-floor apartment below us."

"...you mean until I find an apartment of my own?" Terra stammered.

"I mean _permanently_," Maria said. Upon hearing this, a look of shock appeared on Terra's face... while a much happier look of shock appeared on Sanza's. Maddy was surprised as well, but she seemed to support the decision as much as Sanza did... while Terra was shaking in disbelief.

"But... you said you only rented it for a week... that means there's only a few days left, how-"

"The person who owns it has been trying to sell it to me for a year," said Maria, "and I've got some money saved up... I'll just add it to the mortgage I have on the top two floors of the building. With the ground floor bought, I'll own the whole building, and you can live in the bottom floor. I'll even help you decorate."

"...Mrs. Salazar, that's-" Terra began.

"_Maria_," Maria corrected with a smile, "and don't worry about it. If you get a job, you can pay me some of what you make, and we'll call it even. I still don't think it's enough to repay you for all you've done for my son, but-"

"_This is the happiest day of my life..." _thought Sanza, who's look of shock had turned into an ecstatic smile. He looked over at Terra, who seemed as if she was about to cry... she got up from her chair and ran over to Maria, wrapping her up in a tight embrace.

"Thank you so much... I owe you... I totally owe you..."

"Don't worry about it," said Maria again. She looked over at Sanza, giggling slightly at his almost dopey expression. "Don't you get any ideas, I think I might put a camera down in Terra's room..."

"Then they'll just do it in _Sanza's _room," said Maddy, causing both Sanza and Terra to blush. "Don't worry, mom, I won't let 'em do anything... I'll hide under Sanza's bed all the time."

Though living together certainly meant that there would be more opportunities for physical intimacy, to Sanza, that was inconsequential. Living just two floors above Terra meant that he'd be able to see the girl he loved with all of his heart every single day... at least until the two of them went off to college.

"_Of course, now that Terra's going to be going into high school with me next year, maybe we can go to the _same _college..." _

Sanza couldn't shake the smile from his face. He was going to be spending the rest of his life with Terra... and he'd never have to worry about her getting attacked again.

"_At least not by Slade, anyway..."_

O-O-O

A week later, Sanza sat together with Terra on the roof of the apartment building, staring up into the night sky. Terra was now living on the bottom floor of the building, her room's drab white walls remade into a beautiful mural of the desert sky, similar to the wallpaper she had back at Titans Tower. She hadn't severed her relations with the team, who still considered her to be a Teen Titan... and she even planned to return to the Tower to train once or twice a week.

As for Sanza... his Red X suit remained in a box under his bed, the Xynothium reactor repaired by Robin and Cyborg to the best of their ability... the suit retained all of its powers except the ability to fly. He would return to the Tower to train with Terra as well... not as a Teen Titan, but as an average citizen determined to remain strong and vigilant in case evil ever returned to threaten the city.

"So, you're going back to school, huh?" Terra asked Sanza, her hand reaching over and resting on top of his.

"Yeah, they finally got the building fixed..."

"I suppose you're a pretty big celebrity now that everyone knows you're Red X."

Sanza nodded his head, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. Not only was he a celebrity at his school, but so was Terra... who had decided to forego returning to Murakami High School, opting to attend Sanza's school instead. She'd be taking several tests over the summer so she could be admitted as a senior... and thus, would graduate with Sanza. She'd already started looking for a senior prom dress.

"By the way, about those tests you're going to take... you'd better ace them all, I'd hate to tell my friends about how wonderful a girl you are, only to have them not be able to meet you in person."

"Oh, don't worry... Raven's helping me study," said Terra with a giggle. "And aren't you worried about someone trying to steal me away?"

Sanza laughed. His stealing days were over... and not just because his identity had been revealed on national television. He'd already fulfilled his initial reason for becoming Red X... he'd grown more than strong enough to protect the people he loved, and on top of that, he had the faith to know that they'd be safe even if he couldn't quite beat the people that threatened them. As for the reason he had continued to be Red X... the stealing... for some reason, he no longer felt the compulsion to steal anymore. He'd stolen something far more valuable than all the treasures in the world... he'd stolen Terra's heart, and that was more than good enough.

"I'm not worried about that... you're my guardian angel, remember? If you went with someone else, you'd be shirking your duty..."

"And what about you, Sanza? I'm sure now that everyone knows you're Red X, you'll be getting a lot of offers for dates..."

"Yeah..." Sanza turned to Terra, looking into her eyes. "Pretty girls with gorgeous blonde hair, soft skin, a perfect body, and radiant blue eyes... lots of them will be chasing after me now that I'm a celebrity."

Terra didn't have to think to know exactly what Sanza meant... and she giggled again, reaching up and placing her hand on Sanza's cheek.

"And you don't look too bad yourself..." Smiling warmly, Terra leaned in and pressed her lips to Sanza's... and could feel his arms wrapping tightly around her, pulling her to him. Her lips parted, and her hands wrapped around him as well... and the two became lost in bliss.

And as Terra continued to kiss him, Sanza was finally able to let go of the last of the demons that inhabited his mind. He knew his father was proud of him now... and that he was now free to live the rest of his life as he saw fit.

"_And I'll be able to live that life with an angel by my side... thank you, Terra... thank you for everything."_

**THE END**


End file.
